Manacled
by generalquistis
Summary: Gwendal manacled with Anissina... and his kitty cat ate the key. Disastrous?
1. Chapter 1

Manacled

Author's Note: My second attempt to write a Kyou Kara Maou fic. This is, however, a GwendalxAnissina (there, I've said it), but I hope this still catches the interest of some readers especially those who are also fond of the said pairing.

oOoOo

He can't help it. He's trapped. He heard her snicker pleasantly as he still tried to talk Gunter into stepping away from the doorway so that he could get out of the room where Anissina had taken them.

"Alright, Gunter, hand him over." She said with a singsong voice.

Gunter smiled at Gwendal von Voltaire who was already looking so desperate to get out of that room where several of Anissina's experiments are normally stored. "There, there, Gwendal. It's alright. It's just Anissina!" he said with a weak smile on his face.

Gwendal grunted, taking what Gunter had just mentioned as sarcasm, and then he faced her with an uncomfortable look on his face. "Anissina, why can't you just use Gunter this time?" he demanded.

"I thought someone with darker hair should take part in this new invention!" she answered with a cheerful smile on her face as she showed them manacles.

"I don't see why you need someone with darker hair for… those manacles?" Gwendal asked in confusion.

"Silly. These were silver when I first made them but I soaked them in a special liquid formula and surprisingly it turned into this shade of black similar to the color of your hair!" she answered.

"If you're looking for someone with dark hair, why don't you try out your new invention with his Majesty?" Gwendal asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, why settle for someone unavailable when you're already here?" she asked as she approached him. "Now come on, try them on for me and then I'll handcuff you with Gunter!" she said.

Gunter's eyes widened. "Wh…what? Me too? But… I thought it's only… Gwendal?" he asked, suddenly fearing for his own life.

"I changed my mind." Anissina answered as she grabbed Gwendal's right wrist and secured the first cuff around it. "There you go. It's not so bad!" she said.

"What does this thing do anyway?" Gwendal asked, still nervous about the manacles. He already developed a notion that anything invented by Anissina would turn out to be dangerous for his own sake… and maybe even for Gunter too.

"The liquid I soaked these manacles into is very special. I mixed black dye with other ingredients I have in my storage area whose bottles are almost empty. I just want to see right now what those ingredients will do if they're mixed together in little portions and then they're going to be absorbed by steel." She said as she approached Gunter, but he instantly opened the door and darted out of the room. She pouted. "Oh, such shameful behavior! He just ran off without saying goodbye!" she said with a playful tone before dragging Gwendal with her. "Come on, Gwendal, let's go after him!" she said sweetly, but he refused to move at one point once they reached the middle of the hallway. She turned back to him with a surprised look on her face. "Gwendal! Why aren't you moving? Did you see a cute kitty somewhere and got distracted?" she asked, meaning to tease him.

He just eyed her with a grumpy look on his face. "I do not wish to participate in your experiment anymore. I need to get back to work." He said.

She just smiled at him. "What's wrong with you? You used to be so cheerful when we were children!" she said teasingly.

His frown deepened. "I was not a cheerful child. I can remember it well." He said stiffly as he swung his wrist away from Anissina's grasp and decided to walk away, but he heard a clicking sound and suddenly, he felt like he was being restrained from walking further away from her. He could not believe that she could hold him back considering that he had always thought of himself to be stronger and heavier than her. He turned back to her with an annoyed look on his face. "Anissina, let go of me now." He said through clenched teeth, but his eyes widened when he realized that she had secured the other cuff around her left wrist.

She smiled slyly at him. "Now are you willing to cooperate?" she asked.

Gwendal began to feel nervous. "You do have the key, right?" he asked.

Her smile faded but she was quiet as she continued to stare at him with a bewildered look on her face.

He felt as if the ceiling gave way and crashed onto him. He even felt the hairs from the back of his neck rising. "Anissina, why aren't you answering?" he demanded, feeling really nervous at that moment.

She took a deep breath, sighed heavily and smiled sheepishly at him. "Gee. I knew I shouldn't have stayed up late last night to soak these manacles…" she began.

Silence.

"Oh. Let me guess. You were already too sleepy but you still insisted on finishing the soaking of these manacles that you forgot to make the key?" he asked miserably with a glum look on his face.

She just giggled. "I have the key, silly! But oh well, we can just saw through the chains—just in case I can't find it in my lab; and then we're free to go." She said as she dragged him with her back to her laboratory.

"Hey, hey! Slow down!" he said.

"Relax, Gwendal. I, Anissina von Karbelnikoff shall destroy the chain that holds us together!" she said with a proud tone before laughing victoriously.

"Now I'm really nervous…" he muttered.

The two reached her laboratory and she began to search for a saw. When she finally found one, she immediately dragged him to a table and then began to grind the saw through the chain.

7 minutes later, the chain was still intact without any trace of breakage.

"It's not working." Gwendal said.

"Try it out." She said, handing the saw to him.

Gwendal immediately started to saw the chain, but he only broke the saw. "Aw, crap!" he snapped impatiently before eyeing her, his left eye twitching. "Anissina!!!" he cried out.

She just smiled at him. "Oh come on, don't give up! We can use my other inventions to cut through the chains!" she said brightly.

He felt the blood draining from his face. "_Other_ inventions?" he echoed. "Is this your new way of making me participate in your experiments?" he demanded.

"Of course not! How could you say such a thing?" she retaliated, "I let you participate because I know you want to." She said proudly as she crossed her arms, eventually pulling him closer to her because of the manacles binding them together.

"Well what can I do? You always seem to catch me…" he muttered miserably as he struggled to uncross her arms so that he could stay as far away from her as possible. The length of the chains was only 12 inches anyway, quite shorter than the usual manacles available for prisoners.

The door burst open and there was Wolfram with an angry look on his face. "Where is Yuuri?" he demanded, but his mood changed when he saw the current state of his older brother and Lady Anissina.

"There you are! Wolfram! Would you be a darling and help separate me and your brother?" Anissina asked sweetly.

Wolfram shuddered. He would not want to touch any of her inventions. "…Like… how?" he asked, crossing his arms uncomfortably.

"You can start by fetching _Ultra-Mega-Deluxe-Cutter_ over there!" she said, pointing towards a purple-colored device that looks like a chainsaw, only 3 times its normal size.

Wolfram breathed in as he stared strangely at the device. "It looks heavy." He said. "Don't you have the key to that manacle?" he asked.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me!" Anissina said pleasantly as she dragged Gwendal towards her desk and began to search through her pile of blueprints and her drawers. "Darn. I swear I hid it somewhere here in my desk!" she said, feeling frustrated.

"Anissina…" Gwendal began through clenched teeth. He was beginning to get impatient.

Meanwhile, Wolfram was eyeing Gwendal's cat that just entered and was heading towards the big chainsaw… and then saw the cat sniffing the area. "Hey, maybe your cat can help you find the key, Gwendal," he suggested with a frown.

Gwendal turned his attention towards his kitty cat and he somewhat calmed down. "She's here?" he asked before dragging Anissina away from her desk. "Hey, what are you sniffing there?" he asked the cat.

"Hey, hold up! I'm not yet through searching for the key!!!" she told him in protest.

Gwendal's eyes widened as he stopped talking, causing Anissina to bump against him, when he saw the cat pawing a small golden key. "No! No! No!!! Bad kitty!!!" he cried out in panic.

But the cat did not listen. It ate the key.

Anissina gasped. "Oh there it is! But your kitty cat ate it! Nice going, Gwendal!" she said in exasperation.

Wolfram laughed at them.

"Wolfram, don't just stand there, do something!" Gwendal told his youngest brother rather demandingly.

Wolfram just shook his head and turned away. "No. You did this to yourself, big brother. Deal with it." He said with a mean smile on his face before running out of the laboratory.

Gwendal grunted impatiently as he dragged Anissina with him to pick up his cat that was already licking itself clean and ready to sleep after its "meal". "Okay, kitty cat. Barf it out." He said while stroking its belly.

The cat just purred as it snuggled against his chest.

"You're not gonna make it barf that way. Let's just wait until it poops!" Anissina told him.

Gwendal thought for a while before nodding. "Alright." He said.

"…But on my _Kitty-Kitty-Bang-Bang Litter Box!_" Anissina said proudly as she ran over to another one of her inventions, dragging Gwendal along with her.

Gwendal examined the big litter box with red sand on it. "…Is this new?" he asked, wanting to be sure that his cat would step on clean ground.

"Of course it is! I haven't tried out yet though because I can't find a cat. But then your kitty cat is here, let's make him try it!" she said brightly.

"_Her_." He corrected.

She blinked. "Huh?"

Gwendal kept a straight face as he settled the cat gently on the litter box. "My cat is a female." He explained.

"Oh." She said softly, and then her smile widened. "Gee, I wonder how a cat and a Sand Bear's offspring would look like?" she said brightly.

Gwendal looked at her in disbelief. "Don't you even think about it!!! That's disgusting!" he said in protest, feeling his cheeks getting warmer.

She just laughed. "I was just playing with you. I knew you'd react that way," she said, slapping his back, making him cringe in pain.

The cat circled within the litter box, sniffed the unusually-red sand, and then curled up in the middle of the litterbox.

Gwendal felt devastated when the cat just decided to sleep.

"Looks like it's not yet in the mood to poop. Where do you usually let her poop?" she asked.

"…I let her out in the garden. I read that kitty poop can serve as good fertilizer." He answered while keeping his gaze on the sleeping cat.

Anissina was observing his facial expression the whole time while he was speaking to her. She felt amused at the fact that his right eye was twitching involuntarily and he was blushing slightly. She smirked. "She's a cute kitty cat, huh?" she asked teasingly as she nudged him.

Gwendal clenched his jaw as his eyes widened a little. He breathed in deeply, trying to regain his composure. "Shall we take her to the garden? Maybe she'll be motivated to crap when she sees the place." He suggested, wanting to change the subject.

She just smiled at him. "Sure. That's what I was supposed to say but I couldn't help but notice that you're suppressing something inside." She said teasingly.

He blushed slightly again. "That's none of your business." He said defensively as he picked up the cat and carried it in his arms. "Come on, kitty cat," he said to it.

Anissina rolled her eyes. "Why? Aren't we supposed to be friends? You tell me what's bothering you and I'll tell you what's bothering me!" she said.

"Nothing seems to bother you anyway so I shouldn't tell you what's bothering me so that I wouldn't bother you with my problems." He told her stiffly as he led the way to the garden, although deep inside, he was wondering if what he said made sense to her. She walked side by side with him. His steps were larger than hers but it was a surprise to him that she was able to adjust well to his speed and manner of walking.

"That mentality is bad for friendships, Gwendal. Friends turn to each other when they have problems. So what if the other is living a worry-free life? That doesn't mean that the troubled one doesn't have the right to consult the worry-free one! Of course that's figuratively speaking, I'm not saying I'm completely worry-free and that you're completely troubled…" she began to babble.

He just sighed heavily. "Alright, alright…" he muttered miserably.

As they walked to the garden, they passed by several maids and guards busy with their own duties in the castle. Those maids and guards saw their current situation: manacled. Of course they talked about it and soon enough, word reached Gunter and Yuuri who were studying in the library, and Conrad who was standing on-guard in one corner of the same room.

"Gwendal and Anissina?" Yuuri asked in amazement.

"You seem amazed, your Highness." Gunter remarked.

Yuuri smiled uneasily. "Well it's because I've always assumed that if Anissina will think of someone to chain Gwendal with, it'd be you, since you're the second most-likely-to-be-Anissina's-guinea-pig." He explained.

Gunter pouted, feeling a little offended by what he heard. "Well it just appears that way, but I don't really enjoy being a part of her experiments." He muttered.

"At least this is something new. Anissina and Gwendal are chained together and the cat apparently ate the key." Conrad said.

Yuuri was already getting bored with studying since he has been seated in that library ever since early that morning and it was already late in the afternoon, so he thought of a plan to get out: "Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we help them?" he asked.

Wolfram entered the library with a frown on his face. "There you are!" he said, pointing at him.

"You shouldn't point at his Highness like that, Wolfram!" Gunter said with a disapproving tone.

Wolfram just rolled his eyes, ignoring him. "And who are you planning to help? Is it a girl whom you're planning to flirt with?" he demanded from Yuuri.

Yuuri's eyes widened. "No, of course not! I'm planning to help Gwendal and Anissina since they're… what do you call those ancient handcuffs?" he turned to Conrad.

"Manacles." Conrad pointed out.

Yuuri blinked. "So I'd have to say that Gwendal and Anissina are manacled." He said, feeling proud of himself before turning to Wolfram who was already laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked, thinking if he said something stupid which made Wolfram laugh.

"It's just that, what you're planning to do is useless. Anissina's manacles can't even get damaged by a saw so I guess it's right to assume that even maryoku cannot separate them. Those manacles can only be unlocked with the designated key for them." Wolfram explained.

"What? Is there even a key?" Conrad asked.

"Yes, but Gwendal's cat ate it." Wolfram said with a mean smile on his face.

Gunter dramatically clasped his hands together and raised them to the heavens. "Oh I'm so grateful that I was able to escape! If not, I could have been the one chained to Gwendal!" he prayed happily.

"Hmf. What are you happy about? I'm really hoping that you'd be the one chained to Gwendal so that you'd leave Yuuri alone to me and you'd eventually stop bombarding him with those boring lessons!" Wolfram said airily.

Gunter eyed him with an offended look on his face before smiling proudly. "Well, unfortunately for you, Wolfram…" he began, but was interrupted when he realized that Yuuri and Conrad had already left the room. "Highness!" he exclaimed.

Wolfram was also surprised that the two had just walked past them and they did not even notice. "Argh! Lord Weller has done it again!!!" he wailed in annoyance before dashing out of the room. "Yuuri! Where are you?" he called out angrily.

Gunter ran after him. "Highness! Your Highness!" he called out with a worried tone.

oOoOo

Gwendal stared at his cat in disappointment when it just slept quietly on the grass. "Oh no…" he muttered.

"Looks like we'll have to feed him some of my concocted laxatives…" Anissina began with an amused look on her face.

"No, you're not going to poison my kitty cat!" he said sternly.

She pouted. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing! Of course I'm not going to poison your cat!" she said defensively.

"You're just looking for a reason to have a dead animal in your examination table to dissect…" he muttered.

She cringed. "Gwendal von Voltaire, I'm very certain you know me very well and I'm sure you know that I'm not that heartless and that I haven't experimented on animals before and I never will!" she said, feeling very insulted by his accusation.

Gwendal grunted. "Can we at least sit down for a while until she wakes up and decides to poop?" he asked as he bent his knees a little. He could feel the tension building on his legs and knees since he had been standing for a long time already.

"Oh. Alright. Let's go back to my lab." She said.

"No, let's go to my office instead. I need to work. I have to write a report about the surveillance I did this morning." He said.

"Well I need to work on a laxative for your cat!" she said.

"Do that later. My work is more important!" he said before dragging her with him back inside the castle. On his way to his office, he saw a few guards patrolling around and called their attention. "My cat is in the garden and sleeping. Alert me when she wakes up to do the number two, understood?" he asked sternly.

"Yes, sir!" the guards saluted and made a run to the garden.

Anissina looked at Gwendal with a smile on her face. "You don't seem to enjoy having me around, huh?" she asked teasingly as they continued to walk.

He just frowned. "We can't stay together this way. These manacles are getting in the way of our work! What if a war broke out? I can't just take you with me to the battlefield!" he told her.

She rolled her eyes. "You're too paranoid about a lot of things! Look at you! We're almost the same age but you look much older than your real age!" she said.

"It's better to worry about the future rather than not knowing what to do when the time comes." He pointed out proudly.

"Yes, I know, but once in a while, can't you just relax?" she asked.

"Oh, there you are! Gwendal! Lady Anissina!" they stopped walking when they heard Yuuri's voice echoing across the walls from behind them. They turned around and saw Yuuri running towards them with Conrad.

Anissina used her manacled hand to wave at Yuuri—of course she did that on purpose to annoy Gwendal since his hand had to be dragged with hers. "Good afternoon, your Highness! Having fun with your studies?" she asked sweetly.

Yuuri and Conrad finally reached them. "Well… yeah… but I figured you two needed my help or something." Yuuri said kindly.

Gwendal saw that Yuuri had brought Morgif along. "Sorry to break it to you, your Highness, but not even Morgif can cut through these chains." He said.

"There's nothing wrong in trying, right? Come on, let me try!" Yuuri said.

Gwendal's jaw dropped. "N…no, no thank you, we don't need your help, your Majesty. We can manage on our own, right, Anissina?" he asked, nudging her.

She immediately got Gwendal's point on why he did not want Yuuri to attempt to cut his sword through the chains: he still hasn't worked out so much with his sword-fighting skills and his aim is still quite bad. If he attempts to cut the chains in one swift motion with the sword held above his head at first, he might miss… and the chains are not that long—it's either he'd end up cutting his or her hand instead of the chains. She smiled weakly. "Yes, Gwendal's right. We can manage!" she said sweetly.

Yuuri blinked. "Aw, man! Come on! Morgif is a very good sword! I'll bet he can cut through those chains." He said.

Gwendal was already looking at Conrad and communicating with him through his eyes, but his brother just smiled at him. "Damn it, say something to distract him!!!" Gwendal wanted to say to Conrad.

Conrad shrugged. "Like what his Highness said, there's no harm in trying." He said.

"Oh. Are you so bored that you want entertainment so badly at the expense of me and your older brother?" Anissina asked airily. She had to admit, she was getting nervous about Conrad's decision of letting Yuuri try to cut through the chains.

"Maybe." Conrad answered lightheartedly, his lips curling into a playful smile as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, there's no harm in trying, we'll only be harmed!" Gwendal was thinking to himself as he stepped away from Anissina nervously, tugging the chains to keep it straight. He and Anissina braced themselves as Yuuri got Morgif and positioned himself in "cutting-position".

"Gwendal, don't worry, if you lose your hand, I'll replace it with a prosthetic hand I made! It's just there upstairs, modeled after your hand!" Anissina said brightly with a grin.

Gwendal was surprised at her. "You made a prosthetic hand! Since when did I let you use my hand as a model?" he demanded.

"You were asleep and I dipped your hand in a special plaster." She said proudly.

He felt violated.

She looked at his hand. "Oh dear… I made a left hand! And if his Highness cuts off your right hand… well, I guess you'll just have to get used to having two left hands! Haha!" she teased.

Yuuri smiled weakly, "I won't cut off your hands, I'll cut the chains! Now hold still," he said.

Gwendal cringed and closed his eyes as Yuuri finally moved.

Anissina clenched her fists, anticipating the pain on her left hand, but then she heard a CLANG sound.

Gwendal opened his eyes, feeling the blood draining from his face. He looked at the chains. Morgif's blade was still against it, trying to cut through it.

Yuuri felt devastated. "Oh man! It's not working!" he said.

Conrad breathed out in what sounded like a sigh of relief. Anissina, on the other hand, just stood there, stunned, while thanking the heavens that she did not lose her hand.

"Maybe we can try melting them with heat." Yuuri pointed out.

"But you might end up giving us burns. Metal is a good conductor of heat, your Highness." Anissina pointed out with a worried look on her face.

Yuuri blinked. "Yeah, you're right… I almost forgot about that…" he began, but he trailed off when Gwendal just fainted and when he fell to the ground, he took Anissina with him.

Conrad stared at his older brother unbelievably. "I guess you scared him too much back there, your Highness." He told Yuuri.

"Oh my goodness! Is he alive? I hope I didn't scare him to death!" Yuuri said with a worried look on his face.

Anissina checked on Gwendal's pulse after regaining her composure. "He's alive." She declared.

"Oh thank goodness." Yuuri said, breathing out a sigh of relief as he clutched his chest.

Conrad chuckled lightly. "It must've been like a near-death experience for Gwendal. Come on, let me help you with him," he told Anissina as he approached them to attempt to carry his older brother.

"Well at least I'm not alone! I saw my whole life flash before my eyes." She muttered to Conrad.

"Lemme help you guys too," Yuuri said as he approached them and helped Anissina up while Conrad lifted Gwendal carefully and draped him over his shoulder, but he ended up falling back to the ground because he could not support his older brother's weight, also taking Anissina with them.

Yuuri stared at them in disbelief. "…Are you guys alright?" he asked.

"I think I broke my wrist…" Anissina muttered as she checked her manacled left wrist.

Conrad grunted. "He's much heavier than he looks!" he remarked in disbelief.

"Unconscious people are heavier than when they're awake anyway." Yuuri said with a weak smile on his face.

"Uh… a little help, please?" Conrad asked weakly since Gwendal was lying on top of him.

Yuuri stared at their sorry state and nodded. "Hey! Some assistance, please?" he yelled.

Yozak came out from hiding behind a big armor displayed at the end of the hallway. He was laughing at them. "Finally, the day has arrived when the gallant captain has fallen!" he said teasingly.

Conrad frowned at him. "There's nothing funny about this situation, Yozak." He said sternly. "Now get Gwendal off of me and help Lady Anissina too." he commanded.

Yozak just stood before them and stared at the unconscious Gwendal. "I saw everything, are you sure he didn't suffer a heart-attack?" he asked skeptically.

"I know a heart-attack when I see one, I studied medicine. He just fainted because he got scared of getting his hand severed." Anissina said glumly.

"What about you, weren't you scared?" Yuuri asked.

Anissina smiled weakly. "…to be brutally honest with you, your Highness, I was at first, but I was relieved when I realized your aim had gotten better with the sword." She said.

Yozak lifted Gwendal off Conrad and draped him over his left shoulder while Yuuri helped Anissina up, careful with her injured left wrist. Then there was a dilemma: the manacles were on Gwendal's right wrist and Anissina's left wrist, and Gwendal's right wrist was dangling behind Yozak. Anissina had to walk backwards or sideways, but her left wrist was aching. "So what got the two of you into trouble?" Yozak asked as he began to walk. Anissina had to be careful in walking while trying to concentrate on healing herself. Conrad, on the other hand, was watching out for her while Yuuri tagged along from behind them.

"Gunter's supposed to be the one attached to him but he ran away. Gwendal also tried to run away but to avoid that, I secured the other cuff on my wrist. His cat ate the key, unfortunately." Anissina explained with a weak smile on her face.

"You'll just have to wait until the cat does the number 2 then." Yuuri said.

"But it's taking too long." Conrad realized.

"I told Gwendal I'll make his cat drink some of the laxatives I made and then he started to accuse me of trying to poison his cat. I don't want to put him under more stress than this one right now so I guess the laxatives are out of the question and I'll just have to wait until the cat does her own thing when the right time comes." She explained with a frown on her face.

"Whoa. You're still concerned about him after his accusations?" Yozak asked, surprised at her.

She just smiled weakly.

"I think that's sweet of you, Lady Anissina," Yuuri remarked with a pleased smile. "I mean, despite the fact that you use Gwendal as a guinea pig for your experiments, you're still concerned about his well-being!" he elaborated.

"Well, they've been friends since childhood anyway, your Highness." Conrad pointed out.

"Whoa! You've been friends since childhood?" Yuuri asked Anissina in amazement.

She finished healing her wrist and she smiled sweetly at Yuuri. "Yes, your highness." She answered before she began to walk normally again, but her left hand was raised towards Gwendal to avoid dragging his wrist towards hers.

Yozak was hesitant at first, but he asked anyway, "I hope it's okay for me to ask this question to you, Lady Anissina, is Lord Gwendal this uptight and grumpy when you were kids?"

Anissina laughed at the question. "Yeah, he has several of those moments. He just tends to put undue stress in his life; even the littlest of things affect him." She said.

"Isn't that psychologically unhealthy?" Yuuri asked.

"That's why he knits. It's his way of relaxing." Anissina pointed out.

"I'm impressed with you. You seem to know more about Gwendal than me, his own brother." Conrad told her with a weak smile on his face.

Anissina thought for a while. "Is that something to be proud of, Lord Weller?" she asked with a smug smile on her face.

Conrad shrugged. "Maybe." He said.

Her smile faded a little and she just looked away.

Yuuri reflected on Gwendal worrying on even the littlest issues. "Must be because he's the older brother. My own brother seems to be so uptight too." he said.

"Anyway, are we taking him to his room?" Yozak asked, interrupting them.

"Yes. He needs to rest." Conrad said.

When they entered Gwendal's room and Anissina saw that the bed was against the wall, she realized that she had to be on the bed with him since her left wrist is manacled to his right. Yozak saw the uneasiness in her face. "Are you regretting something, Lady Anissina?" he asked coolly.

"Yeah, I'm starting to regret the fact that I manacled myself with him…" she was thinking to herself, but then she saw the brighter side of things. "No. This is a good way for us to bond again like we were children!" she said pleasantly as she removed her boots and got on the bed first before Yozak carefully placed Gwendal on the bed.

Conrad smiled. "Now you're literally bonded." He said, meaning to crack a joke.

Yuuri, Yozak and Anissina eyed him strangely.

Conrad's smile froze, sensing that the three were not able to appreciate the joke, clearing his throat in the process. "Well, I'm sure Gwendal would really love your company, Anissina." He said.

Yozak took a deep breath. "Well, I guess we'd better leave them now." He said.

"I think I'd like to stay here and talk more with Lady Anissina." Yuuri said.

"Are you sure, your Highness? You might disappoint Gunter." Conrad said.

"And don't forget Wolfram," Yozak reminded them with a silly smile on his face.

Yuuri frowned slightly. "Aw man. I wanted to hear stories from their childhood." He said.

Anissina smiled reassuringly at him. "There will be plenty of time for that later on after your studies are done for the day, your Highness. You can come by here later on." She said.

Yuuri smiled. "Alright. I'll see you guys later then. I hope he'll be alright though." He said, looking at Gwendal in concerned.

"He'll come around later." She said reassuringly.

"Do you want me to send Giesela over here to examine him?" Yuuri asked.

Anissina shook her head. "No. He'll be fine with me." She said brightly.

"You want anything to read? You might get bored there." Conrad asked her.

"I'll be fine. I'll just stare at something or play with his stuffed animals." She said with a silly grin.

Conrad was not sure whether she was being sarcastic or not, but he just shrugged. "Alright. Your choice." He said with a smile before leading the way out of the room.

Yozak winked at Anissina and waved at her before walking away, while Yuuri smiled at her and waved goodbye before following after Yozak.

Anissina raised an eyebrow at Yozak, wondering what the wink was for. She watched quietly as the door closed behind Yuuri. She leaned back against the headboard as she breathed in before turning her gaze towards Gwendal who was still sleeping. She sighed and then smiled softly, looking at his sleeping face. "Even when you're asleep, you look stressed," she said softly before picking up one of his knitted stuffed toys from one corner of his bed and began to examine it while thinking what kind of animal it is: a pig or a bear.

oOoOo

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Manacled

Chapter 2

oOoOo

By 7:30 in the evening, Gwendal was still asleep and Anissina was just on the second questionable knitted stuffed toy she spotted on the bed. The first one she picked up, she settled on thinking that it was a bear, but on the second one, she was having more of a hard time trying to determine if it's a rabbit or a kangaroo… or maybe even a wallaby.

By 7:30 in the evening, news reached Lady Cecilie von Spitzweg who was on a cruise somewhere, but when she heard the news (actually, it was a _misheard _news), she immediately took a trip back to the castle and by 8:30 in the evening, she was already there and went straight to her eldest son's room where Anissina was still mentally arguing whether the stuffed animal was a rabbit, kangaroo or wallaby. "Oh Anissina!!! I've heard the news!!!" Cecilie exclaimed excitedly a she jumped onto the bed, basically kneeling on Gwendal's stomach and eventually waking him up because of the pain, and grabbed Anissina's hands, shaking them enthusiastically. "But why didn't you invite me to your wedding? I could've been your maid of honor!" she said happily.

Anissina stared at Cecilie with her blue eyes wide in shock.

Gwendal was struggling to breath. "M…mother!" he struggled to say.

"The people in the cruise ship were talking about it and I overheard the masseuse talking to one of his clients that you're married to Gwendal FINALLY!!!" Lady Cecilie said excitedly to Anissina before hugging her happily. She started to cry tears of joy. "Oh, finally! A beautiful daughter-in-law!" she said in between her sobs.

"Mother!!!" Gwendal cried out in agony.

Anissina gently pushed Lady Cecilie away and smiled weakly at her, "Gossip travels fast, but I'm not married to your son. We're just _manacled_. Not married." She pointed out.

Cecilie felt her heart sinking. "…You're not married?" she asked before finally getting off the bed and eventually off Gwendal who was still in pain. She stared at them with a dumbfounded look on her face before grunting. "Hmf! Those rumors spread fast but they're very inaccurate!" she crossed her arms in frustration, but when she saw the manacles binding her son and Anissina together, she smirked. "But that can be arranged, right?"

"Oh for crying out loud, mother! Get out of here! Can't you see that I'm having problems now?" Gwendal said rather harshly as he sat up on the bed.

Anissina slapped his face with the back of her right hand.. "That's no way to talk to your mother!" she said, feeling offended for Lady Cecilie.

Cecilie, however, just laughed at her son and then turned to Anissina with a disappointed look on her face, "Dearie, the next time you slap him with your right hand, please use your palm!" she suggested. Anissina immediately understood what Lady Celi had meant by that but she just maintained a stiff smile on her face.

"Your only problem is your attitude, Gwendal dear," Cecilie approached her son and pinched his cheek—the area where Anissina slapped, making him feel more stinging in that area. "You're a very handsome guy but you're too grumpy! You'd better lighten up!" she said sweetly before taking a look at the chains. "Ah! Those are well-crafted chains! I never knew you enjoyed bondage games, Gwendal! Teehee! So you've got a kinky side, huh?" she teased her son.

Anissina smiled uneasily at her before noticing that Gwendal's face had instantly turned red upon hearing such a comment. "Mother, why do you always have to embarrass me?" Gwendal demanded in annoyance and embarrassment.

Anissina could already sense tension coming from Gwendal's words and actions. "Uh-oh… is he having a mental breakdown of some sort? I knew stress was getting into his nerves…" she thought silently with an amused smile on her face before turning to Cecilie, "Oh, let me take care of Gwendal for now, Lady Celi. Have you eaten your dinner yet?" she asked.

Cecilie shifted her attention to Anissina. "No, not yet, what about you?" she asked.

Anissina realized that she hasn't eaten yet. "No, but that's not important right now. I have to take care of Gwendal." She said.

Cecilie smiled sweetly at her. "Well alright." She said before giving her son a kiss on his stinging cheek, leaving a very red kiss mark on it. "I'll just see you later." She said before leaving the room.

Gwendal grunted, wiping the red kiss mark off his cheek with the back of his sleeve, but then he saw the manacles again and he felt his spirits getting drained. "…the cat hasn't pooped yet, huh?" he asked.

She smiled weakly at him. "Your guards haven't reported anything yet, so I'd assume that your cat hasn't done it yet." She said before handing him his knitting needles and some red yarn which she found lying around by the knitted stuffed animals on the bed. "Here. You'd better relax for a while." She said.

Gwendal stared at the needles and the yarn before taking them and he started to knit frustratingly. She watched quietly for a moment as he worked on a new project. She smiled calmly, realizing that he somewhat calmed down. "Make sure I can recognize that animal you're knitting." She said teasingly.

He just kept quiet and grunted. She took a deep breath and leaned back against the headboard again, cradling the rabbit/kangaroo/wallaby in her arms. "To be honest with you, Gwendal, maybe you should start looking at pictures of animals for reference. Like this one I'm holding—I can't even tell what it is!" she pointed out.

He took a quick glance at the knitted stuffed toy in her arms. "It's a bunny rabbit." He said stiffly before proceeding to knit.

She stared the "bunny rabbit" and smirked. "Oh. I thought it was a kangaroo or a wallaby!" she said lightheartedly.

He just ignored her comment and proceeded to knit.

She just watched him quietly as he went on with his knitting. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" she asked.

He frowned. "I don't want to come out of this room, not while we're still chained together." He told her sternly.

She laughed. "Oh you're suddenly ashamed of being seen with me, is that it?" she asked mockingly.

"I don't want to stir up more rumors that you and I are married." He muttered.

She grinned. "What's so bad about that?" she asked.

"Because it's not true! I don't want the public to believe in such falsities." He said, although he could feel his cheeks getting warmer.

"Well I'm sure you know that we both have to eat," she began, rolling her eyes.

"We'll eat later once everyone's asleep." He told her.

She could not believe what he had just said, but she just shook her head in disbelief before crossing her arms, dragging his hand with hers as she did so, eventually interrupting his knitting. He cringed. "Anissina!" he exclaimed in annoyance, but he raised his eyebrows at her when he saw the offended look on her face.

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry if I'm the cause of your stress right now. I just…" she trailed off and looked away. "…never mind." She muttered.

He just stared at her with a stunned look on his face before frowning. "You just what?" he asked with a demanding tone.

She clenched her jaw before replying, "I just wanted to spend more time with you." She looked at him and smiled at him. "I guess my impulsive decision to manacle you with me instead of Gunter was a bad idea after all." She said, trying to sound cheerful about the situation but her disappointment and sadness were evident in her tone.

Gwendal was just stunned, not knowing what to say, but when he was finally able to think of something to say as an apology, he was interrupted when the door opened and Greta arrived with a storybook in her grasp. "There you are, Anissina!" she said happily. Yuuri was following after her with a weak smile on his face. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you, but she wants Anissina to read her bedtime story instead of me for tonight." He explained.

Anissina smiled cheerfully at Yuuri. "Oh that's okay, your Highness! I promised Greta earlier today that I'd read for her tonight." She pointed out.

"I see. But what if you fall asleep here, Greta?" Yuuri asked.

"That's okay, you can carry me to my room." Greta responded sweetly before handing the story book to Anissina and then climbed onto Gwendal's bed.

Gwendal just kept a straight face as he watched the child sit on Anissina's lap while Yuuri sat by the window.

"So, Gwendal, feeling alright?" Yuuri asked.

Gwendal just looked away and sat still, deciding to just listen to the bedtime story.

Greta, on the other hand, was staring at the manacles while listening to Anissina reading a story from the book with a plot similar to the story _Rapunzel_. However, the little girl recalled what Yuuri and Conrad had been reminding her earlier while having dinner: never remind Gwendal about those manacles; so she just turned her attention to his hair and smiled. "Your hair is like the Princess's hair in the story! I'd like to braid it!" she said sweetly as she jumped to his back and untied his hair.

Gwendal wasn't able to react anymore. He just let Greta braid his hair.

Anissina chuckled lightly as she observed Greta braiding Gwendal's hair. "Then what happened to the Princess, Anissina?" Greta asked curiously.

Anissina shifted her attention back to the story and continued to read. "…and then the Princess heard the Prince singing from outside the high tower. It was a love song…"

"A love song?" Greta asked.

"Yes, a love song." Anissina answered calmly.

"Gwendal, sing a love song!" Greta said brightly.

Yuuri was already beginning to feel uncomfortable for Greta's sake, especially since he saw Gwendal scowling more. "Er… Greta…" he began.

Greta tugged at Gwendal's long already-braided hair. "Sing a love song! Sing a love song!" she chanted gleefully.

Gwendal's left eye twitched and he smiled stiffly. "…Alright, I'll sing a love song…" he said, trying to sound cheerful. Then he looked at Anissina.

She just looked back at him curiously, realizing from the look in his eyes that he doesn't know a single love song. She smirked. "Oh come on, Gwendal, I'm sure you know one love song!" she said teasingly.

He cringed. "I don't even sing!" he said.

"Yes, you do! You used to sing when we were kids!" she said in an urging manner.

Gwendal could feel his cheeks getting warmer again. "…_Used to_, Anissina. I _used to_." He emphasized.

"Well, I'm sure you haven't lost your touch," she said with a sweet yet bantering tone.

Gwendal grunted.

"Come on, Gwendal, I'm sure you can remember the love song mother used to sing to us." Conrad said from the doorway. He was just leaning there all along.

Gwendal flashed him a warning look. "Don't fan the flames, Conrad." He said figuratively. His brother just smiled coolly at him.

Gwendal then turned his gaze to Greta to apologize to her because he did not want to sing, but then he saw the sad look on her face. "No one's ever sang me a love song before…" she said with a pout. It was then when he felt as if his heart was melting.

Anissina smirked, knowing that the Gwendal could never really refuse such a cute child's request. "Remember, Gwendal, your decision, whether it is to sing for her or not, can greatly affect her psychological development. You decide if you want to live the rest of your life guilt-ridden if she grows up to be a man-hater and a mean girl all in one…" she whispered to him, but she stopped when he finally said, "Alright, I'll sing for you." And he turned his gaze to Conrad with a frown on his face. "You help me out here. You know what mother's song is!" he told him, but Conrad was not there anymore.

Conrad was outside, hiding behind the wall and talking to Wolfram discreetly. "If I were you I wouldn't go in there. Yuuri is there but he's okay."

"Why not?" Wolfram demanded in a whispery tone.

"He'll make you sing the song that mother used to sing to us as a lullaby if you come in there." Conrad answered.

Wolfram made a face. "Ew. That love song that she sings as a lullaby?" he asked, cringing.

Their discreet conversation was interrupted when they heard Gwendal clearing his throat and then he began to uneasily sing the first few lines: "…_Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you…_"

Wolfram shuddered while Conrad struggled to stifle his own laughter.

Back inside the room, Yuuri stared at Gwendal in amazement as he listened. Greta had a look of happiness on her face and her eyes danced in glee as she gazed up at Gwendal. Anissina, on the other hand, had an amused smile on her face as he continued: "…_Why do stars fall down from the sky everytime you walk by? Just like me, they long to be close to you…_" and his gaze slowly shifted to Anissina when he noticed that she was smiling quietly at him.

Then he forgot the lyrics for a moment. The look on his face prompted Anissina to help him out, so she did, "…_On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true."_

Gwendal remembered the words immediately when she started to sing and he smiled lightly as he joined her, "_So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold; and starlight in your eyes of blue._"

Yuuri calmed down and smiled but he was surprised when he saw Greta nodding off until she eventually fell asleep behind Gwendal.

Gwendal and Anissina stopped singing when the former felt Greta's head resting against his back. The latter smiled calmly and she sighed in contentment. "Well, that ends our bedtime story for tonight," she said gently as she closed the book.

Gwendal just kept quiet, relieved that he was not required anymore to finish the song because he already felt embarrassed singing it with an audience around him, but he realized that when Anissina joined him in the singing, he somewhat calmed down and did not feel very much embarrassed anymore.

Yuuri got up from where he was seated and carefully approached the bed to pick up Greta and carry her. He smiled kindly at Anissina and Gwendal as the latter got the book and handed it to him. "Thanks you guys. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." He said softly before proceeding to go out of the room. He saw Conrad and Wolfram standing in the hallway by Gwendal's room as soon as he shut the door.

"Let me help you with her," Wolfram said, offering to carry Greta for Yuuri.

Yuuri handed Greta over to Wolfram before turning to Conrad with a smile on his face, "I'm amazed at Gwendal. I never knew he could sing. And that was a nice song too! It's quite old but I used to hear it over the radio back at home. I wonder where Lady Celi learned that song though..." He said softly.

"That song plays from where you came from too?" Wolfram asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Yuuri answered as the three of them walked away from Gwendal's room.

"The song is also pretty old around here, too, your Highness. Our mother must've learned it when she traveled to a human territory." Conrad explained.

Yuuri blinked. "Oh… so our worlds have some similarities, after all. Haha." He said, amused at the fact that Conrad had just explained to him.

oOoOo

Gwendal and Anissina sat in silence for a few moments before the latter took the initiative to speak up, "So you did remember how to sing that song after all."

He kept a straight face but he avoided looking at her. "How do you know the song?" he asked.

She chuckled lightly. "Silly. You sang it to me once or twice when we were kids… you remember, during sleepovers?" she asked.

His eyes widened as the memory began to sink into his consciousness again. "Oh… right…" he said softly.

She sighed heavily as she leaned against the headboard. "I miss those days. We were very little back then. Why can't we do those things we've done in the past anymore?" she asked.

He frowned as he sat still, leaning against the headboard too. "…because we grew up." He answered simply.

"We also used to talk very often about a lot of things back then…" she said softly before coming up with a bright idea. "Hey let's play 20 Questions!" she suggested.

"Aren't we too old for such games?" he asked airily.

"We're not that old anyway. So come on!" she said, tugging at his sleeve.

"No." he said, shaking his head in disagreement.

She grunted. "Oh fine. Then let's get out of this room and eat or something. I'm really hungry." She said before taking the initiative to get out of bed to put on her boots, eventually dragging him with her. "We're going to the kitchen? The maids will see us! If they see us they'll start talking about us!" he told her.

"Okay. You don't want to hear them speak? I'll let you wear special earplugs that I invented!" she said happily.

He cringed. "…invented?" he thought silently before shaking his head in a "no". "…No thank you. Let's just… eat someplace else… like the town. Besides, I haven't done my evening rounds yet for this week." He suggested.

She blinked. "Sweet! A night-out in town!" she said excitedly as she waited for him to put on his boots before she eventually led the way to the door. "This is great! It's like making up for lost time! Thanks to these special manacles I've crafted myself!" she said pleasantly.

Gwendal just kept a straight face as he caught up with her speed and walked beside her. "It's almost 10 in the evening anyway. There'd be less people in some areas in the street. We'll go to those areas to have dinner. And I think I shouldn't be dragging you with me in these rounds. If your brother finds out, he might think I'm getting you into trouble." He muttered.

"Why are you suddenly worried about my older brother? So what if I'm out in the streets late at night? I'm with you anyway. And as if harm would befall me! I'm capable of defending myself. And besides, you're with me!" she said as she nudged him.

He just kept on walking, pretending that he was not getting uncomfortable.

Anissina smirked as she tugged on his hair. He cried out in annoyance and pain. "Argh! Anissina!" he exclaimed in protest as they stopped walking.

"Calm down, I'm just taking off your braid. Do you want people to stare more strangely at you?" she asked airily as she smiled calmly and offered to tie his hair in a ponytail again. "Here, let me tie that properly for you." She said softly.

Gwendal bent his knees a little so that she would not have a hard time reaching his head. In no time, his hair was tied securely into its typical place once more. "Thanks." He muttered.

She giggled. "You need to condition your hair though. It's too stiff!" she said.

He cringed. "No, I'm not letting you use some special conditioner on my hair!" he said in protest as they continued to walk.

When they reached the gate, 2 guards approached them. "Sir!"

Anissina and Gwendal stopped walking. "Where's my cat?" the latter asked.

"Er… sir, we've been searching but… she got out of the palace grounds!" one of the guards explained.

Gwendal felt the blood draining from his face yet again, making Anissina worry when she saw his eyes widen in total mortification. "Oh no you don't! You're not fainting this time, Gwendal! Snap out of it! We'll look for her when we get to the town proper. Maybe she's just looking for a mate or something. It's mating season anyway." She pointed out as she shook him violently.

Gwendal just kept still, speechless and unable to think of anything else at that moment but the safety of his cat… and the key that it swallowed earlier. "No… I have to find her… otherwise Anissina and I will be burdened with these evil manacles forever!" he was thinking to himself in panic.

Anissina realized that he was suddenly paralyzed by shock so she just took the initiative to command the guards, "Please fetch his horse from the stables." She said.

The guards exchanged looks before looking at her apologetically. "Er… Lady von Karbelnikoff, Lord von Kreist has already kissed the horses good night and they're already asleep." One of the guards told her.

Anissina frowned. "I don't care! It's just Lord von Voltaire's horse that I need anyway so just fetch that horse now! Lord von Voltaire and I are going to town to look for the cat." She said sternly.

"Y…yes milady!" the guards saluted and ran towards the stables.

She sighed heavily. "I don't understand Gunter sometimes. Why does he have to kiss those horses goodnight?" she asked out loud with a ridiculous look on her face before turning to Gwendal. "Hey, relax. We'll find your cat." She said, tugging at his sleeve.

He shifted his gaze to her. She was surprised because she thought she had seen a demented glint in his eyes but she just kept still as she stared up at him. "Don't you understand, Anissina? If we can't find that cat, we'll be manacled forever! How come I don't even sense a single trace of worry coming from you?" he demanded with a shaky tone as his clenched fists trembled impatiently.

She just smiled sweetly at him. "What's so wrong about being manacled forever, Gwendal? At least it's _us_!" she pointed out.

Gwendal growled in annoyance. "If we're together like this forever, how can we get back to our normal lives? I'd have to take you to the battlefield with me in case a war breaks out, I'd have to face leaders with you by my side… and how are we going to sleep and bathe?" he demanded, blushing at the last two instances that he mentioned.

Her eyes widened and she raised her eyebrows at him, smirking slyly. "You're blushing, Gwendal!" she narrowed her eyes at him. "Thinking of something obscene?" she teased. She was delighted when she saw his face turn completely red. She laughed at him. "Come on, Gwendal, why aren't you comfortable with me? I've always been comfortable with you! You're my best friend!" she exclaimed.

He just kept still, not knowing what to say anymore.

The guards arrived with Gwendal's horse. "Here you go, Lady Anissina," one of them said.

"Good." She responded, shifting her gaze to the horse and dragging Gwendal with her to approach it. "You get up first, Gwendal, then I'll ride behind you." She suggested.

"We'll be having a hard time that way. I'm taller than you. And besides, your left wrist is connected to my right. It will be easier if I was behind you." He said sternly.

She shrugged. "Oh well. Your choice." She said.

The guards watched quietly as Gwendal helped her up on the horse and then he himself hopped onto the horse, settling behind her and grabbing the reins.

They were not aware, however, that as they rode off from the castle grounds, Lady Cecilie was watching them from one of the balconies with Wolfram, Conrad and the 3 maids. A pleasant smile formed on her red lips. "Oh look at them, they're so sweet together! Your older brother is finally learning how to become a gentleman!" she said happily.

Wolfram just rolled his eyes. "Gee, I wonder how Anissina can tolerate him. He's such a grumpy old man! If I was the one handcuffed to him, I'd rather cut my hand off to break free!" he said with an annoyed look on his face as he crossed his arms.

Conrad just kept quiet but he was smiling as well while the 3 maids continued to swoon.

oOoOo

"I'm really, really, really, really hungry!!!" Anissina said in anticipation as she saw the cook preparing the soup and the noodles right in front of her and Gwendal.

Gwendal was looking very uncomfortable as he kept on glancing at his surroundings. To be specific, he has been on the lookout for cats roaming around the area ever since they left the castle. He was also uncomfortable at the fact that instead of going to a fine-dining restaurant, they were stuck eating at a street food kiosk. "I can't believe you can stomach common people's food…" he muttered to Anissina.

"Don't discriminate. I thought you're different from your youngest brother?" she asked airily, eyeing him warningly.

He grunted. "Just assure me that the food here is clean!" he whispered.

She smiled sweetly at him. "Of course it is! Otherwise I wouldn't have taken you here to eat!" and then there was this look in her eyes which made him want to move away from her a little. "Besides, just in case you get diarrhea, you can take one of the antidotes that I concocted…" she began.

"No, thank you. I'll just… let it pass, just in case…" he muttered.

The cook placed two big bowls or ramen in front of them. "Here you go. Enjoy!" he presented proudly.

"Thank you, sir!" Anissina said happily before she started to eat.

Gwendal stared at his ramen. He sniffed it for a moment before shifting his attention to Anissina who seems to be really enjoying her food. Swallowing hard, he turned back to his food and stared at it for a long time before deciding that he did not want to eat it. "I'm… not really hungry, you can have it." He said stiffly as he pushed the bowl towards her.

She stared at it for a few moments before grinning. "Thank you, Gwendal! You're too sweet! How'd you know I'm still hungry?" she asked before turning to the cook. "Give him the tab, sir. He'll pay for everything." She clarified.

Gwendal cringed but he just kept silent and decided to do a surveillance of the area from where he is seated.

Passersby and the other customers were staring strangely at them, though, because of the manacles. Gwendal could hear murmurs and whispers but could not make out the words. He began to blush and he just kept still, deciding not to look around anymore.

Anissina finished her first bowl of ramen in a matter of 5 minutes before shifting to the one that was supposed to be for Gwendal, which she finished in a matter of 3 minutes since it has cooled down already.

After paying for the food, the two began to walk around the town, leaving the horse tied to one of the trees near the road back to the castle.

"What are we looking for again?" she asked absent-mindedly.

He was quiet for a few moments before answering, "My cat."

"Why aren't you calling her name or something?" she asked.

His lower lip stiffened. "…do I have to?" he asked.

She looked at him ridiculously. "Of course you do! Otherwise she wouldn't know you're around and wouldn't come near you!" she pointed out. Then she paused for a while and immediately spoke up again when she realized something "Oh don't tell me you don't wanna call out her name because you don't want to sound pathetic or desperate or simply, you don't want to feel embarrassed because you lost your kitty cat?" she pouted, and then rolled her eyes. "Geez! You men! Your egotistical nature is really annoying! You don't even want to ask around for directions or questions. What if somebody had managed to catch a glimpse of your cat? Since you're not asking questions, it's highly possible that you can never find your cat again!" she said mockingly.

"I am not egotistical!" he argued, although she heard his tone falter when he said _not_. She just eyed him disappointingly. "Yeah. Whatever you say, Gwendal." She muttered in sarcasm.

They were quiet for a few moments, just walking without even bothering to say anything to each other.

Finally, she could not stand the silence and spoke up, "What's the name of your cat?"

He seemed to have been taken aback by the question that he was not able to answer immediately. "... What?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Gwendal, I know you too well to think that you're stupid enough not to have understood what I just asked you." She said bluntly.

He could tell that she was already annoyed with him but he just tried to appear calm… although he was already feeling tense. Never before has he felt so very intimidated by her; and so clearing his throat, he began to utter: "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"

Anissina stared at him with her eyes wide in bewilderment. "How creative," she remarked in sarcasm. "Men and your pride! Can't you for once swallow your pride and reveal to the world that you're capable of having a non-violent side?" she asked airily before smirking. "You'd have to speak louder than that if you want her to hear you. Now why won't you tell me her name so that I can call her too? I'd like to be of some help here, you know?" she pointed out.

"No, I can manage. She's my cat anyway." he answered before proceeding, "…here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"

She sighed heavily. "Is that her name: _Kitty_?" she asked.

He shook his head in a "no".

"Other cats might approach you and not her, you know?" she pointed out.

"…Here, kitty! Come to Gwendal!" he struggled to say, trying to ignore Anissina's remark.

She laughed at his last statement.

He grunted and turned to her, "Ah stop laughing, Anissina. I'm not really enjoying this!" he told her with an embarrassed look on his face although he still sounded stern.

She sighed heavily. "Well if you'd sacrifice your ego for a moment then maybe you'll start enjoying it." She said as she rolled her eyes.

2 more hours of walking around and they were not successful.

"You know maybe we should put up posters with your cat's picture on it, just in case someone has seen her, then they could go to the castle and inform us about it. And if anyone finds her, you can just give that person a reward!" she suggested wearily.

"We're not going home without my cat." He told her sternly.

"You sound like a kid! You're tired and sleepy, Gwendal, your eyes are already droopy, watery and bloodshot!" she pointed out.

He clenched his jaw, trying to suppress a yawn.

She tugged at the chain that holds them together. "…Come on, Gwendal, let's go home. I'm tired." She said with a half-demanding and half-pleading tone.

He looked down at her unbelievably, observing the tired look on her face. Anissina—tired? He was so used to seeing her so full of energy and life, but then when he gazed into her eyes, he realized that she was telling the truth. She did look tired and sleepy.

She smiled. "Besides, I'm not in a hurry to get separated from you." She said teasingly despite the weariness that was slowly taking over her body and consciousness.

He just frowned and looked away. "Fine, let's go home." He muttered.

While riding on the horse going back to the castle, as Gwendal was staring straight ahead, he felt her head lean back against his chest—she had fallen asleep.

A soft smile played on his lips as they continued their way back to the castle.

Upon arrival, he carefully got down from the horse and carried her inside the castle, trying not to mind the stares coming from the guards on the night-shift stationed in their proper places. He was uncertain, though, where he was going to sleep that night: her room or his own room.

"So you're back."

Gwendal turned around and saw Conrad just standing by a corner and smiling calmly at him. "And you're still awake." He pointed out.

"His Highness returned to Earth a few hours ago while he was strolling by the fountain because he couldn't sleep. I just thought I'd wait up for you to return to inform you about it." Conrad explained.

Gwendal just looked at him strangely. "Thanks." He answered before turning away, but he still did not move.

"Can't decide where to sleep tonight?" Conrad asked him.

Gwendal wondered how his brother could be so sensitive to others' needs. "Must be the fact that he's half-human…" he thought silently before turning his gaze to the sleeping Anissina in his arms. "Maybe you could help me." He told his brother with a stiff tone.

"I'd suggest sleeping in her room tonight. A change of atmosphere for you might be good." Conrad answered.

Gwendal thought for a moment before deciding to oblige to the idea because of the reason that he was already tired himself. "'night." He muttered to Conrad before proceeding to Anissina's room, yet he noticed that his younger brother was still following after him. "You might need some help in opening the door." He heard him say. Gwendal just nodded slightly.

Still, Conrad lingered in the room even when the two were already lying on her bed. Gwendal just looked at his brother with a nonchalant expression. "Why are you still here?" he asked bluntly.

Conrad just looked at him with a slight smile on his face before shaking his head. "Sorry. I should be leaving. Good night." He said before leaving the room.

Gwendal began to wonder what was wrong with his brother but he was interrupted when he felt Anissina rest her head on his shoulder and began to snore. He frowned, feeling appalled at first, thinking, "How unladylike…" he muttered, but then her snores ceased after a while. He took a deep breath and looked away. "At least it stopped…" he thought to himself before shutting his eyes to wait for slumber to take over him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

oOoOo

Gwendal was having a dream which he was having a hard time classifying as good or bad. It involved him getting stuck inside a red castle with green floors and walls. A moat with clear water surrounded the big castle but there were strange fish swimming there—they had the heads of Wolfram, Conrart and Lady Cecilie, their mother. Inside the castle, there were several children playing around, and they were all girls that either looked like Suzanna Julia or Gisela. In one chamber of one of the castle's towers, he saw himself in that dream. His clothes were red, and he looked confused. He kept looking outside of the Tower's window as if searching for something. The door to that tower's chamber was wide open but he still thought that he could never get out. He stayed inside that room for a bit more until a little girl who looks like Suzanna Julia entered and handed him a red rose with a red stem and pink leaves. She smiled at him but he turned away to look at the rose. "What a weird rose…" he thought while wondering who would cultivate such a thing.

"What are you looking for, Gwendal?" asked Suzanna Julia. And when he looked at her again, he saw that she was already grown up again.

Gwendal was at a loss for words.

She just smiled at him. He then turned away and looked outside the window again and screamed Anissina's name several times… before he finally woke up to the sound of Wolfram's voice telling him to get up.

"Gwendal! Gwendal! Come on, we are going to be late!" Wolfram was literally shouting at him.

Gwendal slowly opened his eyes and the first person he saw was his youngest brother who was standing over the bed and looking at him with an annoyed and disgusted expression.

"Do you even know what time it is?" Wolfram demanded impatiently.

Gwendal still felt sleepy as he shifted his gaze to Anissina who was already wide-awake and looking at him with a sorry smile on her face as she remained seated on the bed beside him. "You still drool when you sleep, you know." She pointed out.

Gwendal's eyes widened and he instantly sat up while wiping the drool off his face.

"Come on, Gwendal! Hurry up! What time did you sleep last night anyway?" Wolfram demanded.

There was a knock on the door and Gwendal said a gruff "Come in" before the door opened. It was Conrart. Gwendal noticed that his brothers were dressed in more formal attires.

"The carriage is ready." Conrart announced as he entered the room with a smile on his face. "Good morning, brother. Did you sleep well?" he asked nonchalantly.

Gwendal grunted and got out of bed, completely forgetting that Anissina was manacled to him, but lucky for her, she was quick to react so was able to restrain him from moving away completely from the bed; otherwise, if she did not react quickly, she could have been dragged to the floor. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she demanded.

Gwendal could feel the blood draining from his face when he felt the cold metal of the manacle's cuff around his wrist. "No, I didn't forget…" he mumbled, feeling glum before turning to his brothers. "Why are you… dressed so formally?" he asked.

"I can't believe you forgot! It's Uncle Stoffel's birthday today and he's got this big party that Mother prepared for him at the Spitzweg Castle!" Wolfram pointed out impatiently.

Gwendal frowned. "I see. Well why are we in a hurry? It's just Stoffel anyway…" he said, feeling a headache suddenly brewing in his head.

"Mother specifically instructed that we be there early because the party will start at noon and it will go on until midnight." Conrart explained.

Gwendal looked at them before turning his gaze outside the window. The sun had gone too high in the skies already.

"It's near 12 noon, Gwendal." Anissina told him.

Gwendal turned to his brothers with a deep frown on his face. "I can't go. Anissina is attached to me, remember? What would people think when they see us looking like this? I'm sure her brother and father will be there too!" he pointed out, feeling his face reddening.

"We can't back out right now; your mother is expecting us." Anissina said softly as she got out of bed. "And finally I can stretch my legs! I've been on that bed since 5 in the morning just waiting for you to wake up! Luckily Wolfram arrived to wake you up, Gwendal." She said haughtily.

"Well why didn't you just wake me up?" he asked.

"You wouldn't! Even if I slapped your face you wouldn't move! It's like you're in a deep sleep or something!" she pointed out.

Conrart smiled. "Maybe he was having a great dream that's why he couldn't let others interrupt him." He said.

Gwendal's left eye twitched. "I wasn't dreaming." He lied. With that, he headed for the dressing area with Anissina trailing after him. He stopped and frowned without even facing her. "Don't look at me when I'm dressing up." He mumbled.

She smirked. "I won't. And don't look at me when I'm dressing up either." She said.

"Oh yes, for your convenience, Anissina, I've already chosen the dress for you. Mother specifically said that you should wear red." Conrart said, handing Anissina a big garment box. She eyed him strangely. "You chose this dress for me? Why, thank you, Conrart!" she said gratefully, although she was thinking how a man could possibly choose a dress for a woman. She was just hoping that it was not plain or tacky.

Wolfram grunted. "I'll just wait for you outside by the carriage." He said before leaving the room.

"He's pretty crabby today, isn't he?" Anissina asked as they reached the dressing area.

"Turn away." Gwendal said as soon as they reached it.

She smirked. "This is _my_ room." She said.

His eyebrow twitched. He forgot that he was in Anissina's room.

Conrart approached him with his formal clothes. "Here you go." He said.

"My, you're very prepared." Anissina remarked.

Conrart just smiled at her and stepped away. "I'll just be outside your dressing room in case you need any assistance." He said.

"I'll get dressed first and then you go next. Make sure you're not looking." Gwendal instructed to Anissina.

She snorted "How ungentlemanly of you." She said coldly before turning away.

Gwendal was relieved that she did not decide to put up a fight anymore… well, except for that last comment, but he forgot about it immediately when he remembered about bigger matters regarding their public appearance at his uncle's birthday party. Just as he was putting on his formal pants, he was surprised when Anissina spoke up again, "My, my, what are you still shy about, Gwendal? It's not _small_ anyway so you don't have to be ashamed about me seeing it!"

His face instantly turned red before turning to face her but he was taken aback when he realized that she still had her back to him. He uttered a growl and clenched his jaw as he continued to put on his pants and zipped it up as quickly as he could. "You didn't take a peek, did you?" he demanded.

She just smirked secretly and shrugged.

"That's a dirty trick, Anissina." He pointed out. "How would you feel if I watched you getting dressed?" he asked airily.

She turned to face him, making him turn red again. He just realized what he had mentioned and he felt very uncomfortable. "Aha. I can tell you're thinking of obscene thoughts again, Gwendal. My, I never realized you had the hots for me." She said sarcastically.

He grunted and gestured for her to turn away because he was still topless. "For the love of cake, turn away!" he said with a half-pleading tone.

She stared at his chest. "What are you so ashamed about? It's just me!" she pointed out.

He crossed his arms against his chest and turned away. "Stop looking at me." He said before grabbing one of his long-sleeved tops.

"You have body insecurities, huh?" she asked with a playful tone.

He just grunted and continued to dress up.

She smiled. "Your body looks fine." She said.

"Will you stop talking! Do you want to give Conrart bad ideas about the two of us here?" he whispered hoarsely.

Outside the dressing area, Conrart was just standing by the doorway and chuckling as discreetly as possible.

When it was time for Anissina to get dressed, Gwendal turned away and just waited until she said she was done. He was beginning to get nervous by the minute because he was starting to imagine how the others would react when they see the manacles. "Anissina," he began.

"Yes?" she asked. "Okay, I'm done." She said.

Gwendal turned to face her but he felt as if the devil snatched his words when he saw what she was wearing. It was a red gown with a very high slit. She had long red gloves and stockings on but she was very mindful of the slit. "Your mother designed this, I'm sure." She muttered.

Gwendal swallowed hard, finding it hard to take his gaze from her figure. That gown really highlighted her best assets.

"Gwendal, you were saying?" she asked sternly to catch his attention.

Conrart arrived inside. "Ready?" he asked.

She turned to him. "Yes, we are. Come on, Gwendal, and close your mouth! You'll catch flies if you leave it open!" she told him as she dragged him outside of the dressing room.

Even Conrart was impressed by her appearance. "My, Anissina, you look very beautiful." He remarked with an amused smile on his face.

For some reason Gwendal could not understand, he felt irked when he heard his younger brother's comment to Anissina; but he just kept his mouth shut. He was not sure about the slit, though. He was beginning to get worried that other men would violate her by staring maliciously at her. "Don't you have any other formal gowns here?" he asked gruffly.

The two were surprised with his question. "Gwendal, you're not suggesting that Anissina change her clothes again, are you? We don't have much time. Mother will nag us about being late for her important party if we are not there in 5 minutes." Conrart told him.

Gwendal frowned. "I thought this party is for Stoffel?" he asked.

"Well your mother planned it meticulously ever since last month; you wouldn't want to disappoint her." Anissina reminded him.

He just kept quiet, realizing that she's got a point. He may not look like the type of person who would not want to make his mother cry, but yes, he is just like his brothers—he does not want to do anything that could disappoint her.

Conrart began to realize why Gwendal was hesitant to let Anissina go out wearing that gown. He smiled reassuringly at his brother. "Don't worry, since you and Anissina are together, it's very unlikely that any dirty old man would try to hit on her." He said optimistically.

Gwendal just clenched his jaw and grunted. "Let's just leave before both Wolfram and Mother could throw huge tantrums just because we're late." He mumbled as he led the way, dragging Anissina with him, at first, before she finally caught up with his speed.

By the time they reached the Castle's main door where the carriage was waiting outside, Wolfram was already throwing a temper tantrum and venting his anger and annoyance of the situation at Gunter who does not seem to be interested at all because he was too busy wishing that Yuuri was there to join them at the party. "Oh, I'll be it would be nice to see his Majesty dancing in the big ballroom… and with me, of course." He was mumbling dreamily to himself, and luckily Wolfram did not hear him.

When Wolfram saw Conrart arriving with the two manacled mazoku, he snorted. "Finally! I thought I'd turn a year older before you slowpokes could come out of there!" he said airily.

"Just how inconsiderate can you get? Can't you see I'm manacled to Anissina? Why don't you try having Gunter attached to you so that you'll know how hard it is to move around with somebody else attached to you?" Gwendal demanded in annoyance. He has had enough of his youngest brother's bratty behavior.

Gunter was appalled with the idea. "Oh, you could have picked a better person to become an example!" he told Gwendal with a disgusted expression on his face.

Wolfram crossed his arms. "Hmf! Never in my whole life will I be manacled to somebody else!" he said proudly.

Anissina smirked. "Oh really? I've got another one of these hidden in my laboratory, maybe next time I can manacle you to Conrart!" she said with a teasing tone.

"Hey…" Conrart began, feeling uncomfortable with the idea. She just snickered.

Gisela arrived wearing a white gown with a weak smile on her face. "I'm sorry if I'm late. I was informed the last minute that I have to join the party." She said.

"Better yet, why don't I manacle you with Gisela?" Anissina added to Wolfram, meaning to tick him off.

Gwendal just nudged Anissina so that she could stop teasing his youngest brother.

Gisela blinked. "What? What's going on? Who's getting manacled to me?" she asked curiously, turning to her father.

Gunter smiled weakly. "It's nothing, Gisela. Come along now," he said, leading the way to the carriage so that they could both avoid the tension building among Gwendal, Anissina and Wolfram.

Conrart took a deep breath, observing the way the three were acting while thinking that being a middle child can sometimes suck especially when the siblings born before and after you are fighting. He could not help but feel caught in the middle. "Let's go." Was all he could say before following after Gunter and Gisela.

As they were walking to the carriage, Gwendal told Wolfram, "Well Gisela is late too, how come you didn't get angry with her?"

Wolfram just clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. "It's not worth getting angry with her. Besides, she's not slow unlike you, Gwendal." He said.

"You little…"Gwendal was about to charge at him due to loss of patience but Anissina restrained him by pulling the chain of the manacles that hold them together. "Ow! Anissina!" he wailed.

"That is enough, Gwendal. When you face your mother, you should appear glad and not angry. Do you want to disappoint her? The same goes to you too, Wolfram." Anissina said sternly as if she was lecturing a child.

Wolfram just grunted as he quietly got inside the carriage.

oOoOo

In 20 minutes, the nobles who came from Blood Pledge Castle arrived at the Spitzweg Castle, making a grand entrance since they were already almost an hour late.

Lady Cecilie, on the other hand, was relieved that her sons finally arrived together with Anissina, Gunter and Gisela. "Oh I'm so glad you're all here! I thought you'd never arrive!" she said, embracing her three sons, but then she noticed that among the three, only her middle child was smiling… as usual. "Gwendal, Wolfram, are the two of you fighting again?" she asked with a playful tone before flicking their noses. "Ah! Mother?" Wolfram wailed, clutching his nose, while Gwendal just winced in slight pain. "Stop fighting and enjoy the party! Oh by the way, why don't you greet your Uncle Stoffel over there?" she asked, referring to Stoffel von Spitzweg who was standing in one area of the garden and socializing with Nikolai and Demitri von Karbelnikoff. With that, Cecilie went over to the buffet table to socialize with the other nobles who were eating there.

"Oh no…" Gwendal felt the blood draining from his face when he saw Anissina's father and older brother talking with his Uncle.

"Father!" Anissina exclaimed excitedly as she dragged Gwendal with her to his father and older brother.

Upon hearing the voice of his beloved daughter, Nikolai von Karbelnikoff turned around and was immediately glad to see his daughter after a very long time, however, he frowned upon the fact that there was a chain that binds his daughter to Gwendal von Voltaire. "What is… this?" he asked in confusion.

"Hello, father, how have you been?" Anissina greeted pleasantly as she gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

Demitri, on the other hand, was looking at Gwendal in amusement. "Wow! Did you finally score?" he teased excitedly.

Gwendal just clenched his teeth at him while trying to maintain his composure.

Stoffel, on the other hand, was staring at the manacles with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Is this a new accessory?" he asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Hello, Uncle Stoffel." Conrart greeted, trying to distract him from the manacles. Even Wolfram greeted him pleasantly just so that he and Conrart could drive his attention away from the manacles.

"I'm afraid your daughter accidentally chained herself together with Lord von Voltaire." Gunter explained to Lord von Karbelnikoff.

"What? But you have the key, don't you, Anissina?" Demitri asked.

"Well his cat ate it and it ran away." Anissina answered brightly.

Demitri just burst out laughing hard at the misfortune of his younger sister and her long-time friend.

"I don't see what's so funny, Demitri," Gwendal mumbled, feeling more embarrassed since by then, he could already feel a lot of prying eyes staring at him and Anissina and the manacles that bind them together.

Demitri continued to laugh. He basically looks like a male version of Anissina but one could say that he was a little bit more sane than his sister… except maybe for that moment when he was laughing rather boisterously which made everyone look at him and wonder what was going on.

Anissina frowned at her older brother. "Demitri, stop laughing," she pointed out, feeling annoyed at the fact that her older brother was making fun of her.

Demitri stopped laughing for a moment and his face turned serious as he gave Gwendal a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Well cheer up! At least you're not… chained to Conrart! Bwahahahaha!" he began to laugh again before excusing himself so that he could go to the buffet table because he says that he is suddenly hungry.

Conrart frowned slightly. "Why is everyone suddenly putting me in their examples?" he mumbled. Gisela just chuckled at his remark.

Anissina took a deep breath and just looked at her father as Gwendal turned to him and said, "But don't worry, sir, my cat is being searched for by my soldiers. We'll be out of these chains in no time."

Nikolai just smiled calmly at him. "Oh, don't rush into things, Gwendal. After all, this is a perfectly good opportunity for you and my Anissina to bond some more! I hear you've been working too much lately…" his expression turned dark, "Are you still watching out for my daughter's safety?" he sneered.

Gwendal's eyes widened as he quickly nodded. "Y…yes, Lord von Karbelnikoff, of course!" he replied nervously.

"Ooh. He's scary." Gunter muttered, stepping away from them, while Gisela, Wolfram and Conrart just observed Nikolai with surprised looks on their faces.

Nikolai smiled again at Gwendal and patted his shoulder. "Good. Just like what I have expected of you. Why, I'd never let my daughter stay in other people's castles if she wasn't with you! Now if you'll excuse me," he said before turning to Stoffel. "I'll talk to you later." He said with a serious look on his face before walking away to head for the area where he spotted Odel von Wincott trying to feed his grandson Rinji.

Gwendal felt as if he had turned into stone during his latest conversation with Anissina's father. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Conrart," he began.

"Yes, Gwendal?" Conrart asked, noticing that his brother had turned pale.

Wolfram saw the disgruntled look on Gwendal's face and he just smirked. "Heheh. Just look at you." He said with a teasing tone.

"Please get me a glass of water." Gwendal requested.

Conrart was fighting the urge to tease his brother about the sudden paleness of his face. "Sure, just wait here. What about you, Anissina?" he asked, turning to her.

"No. I can manage." She answered.

"I'll go with you." Wolfram said, deciding to join Conrart to the table where drinks are being served so that he could dish the dirt on Gwendal.

"Are you alright? You look like you need to sit down." Gunter asked, trying to stifle his smile while looking at the paleness of Gwendal's face.

"I guess that sudden meeting shocked him." Gisela remarked.

"Snap out of it, Gwendal," Anissina said, nudging him casually.

"Why aren't you the least bit embarrassed? Everyone's staring at us now?" Gwendal demanded from her.

They were interrupted when they heard Stoffel clearing his throat. He was still standing behind Gwendal all the while even when Nikolai was still there. They all turned to him with inquiring looks on their faces.

"Whatever got you into this kind of sticky situation, Gwendal?" Stoffel asked while maintaining a serious look on his face before turning to Anissina. "Surely you weren't abusing Gwendal again in one of your experiments, or were you?" he asked skeptically.

Her mouth dropped open when she heard the remark. "Abuse?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows.

Gwendal suddenly regained his composure. "She… did not abuse… me; I… readily volunteered for this experiment." He said in a dignified manner which surprised Anissina, Gunter and Gisela.

"I see." Stoffel said, although he still had a skeptical look on his face before looking at Anissina and staring at her dress from head to toe. "But I got to admire your sense of fashion, young lady." He said with an approving look before turning to Gwendal. "Well then. I hope you stay until the end of this party. We're going to transfer to the ballroom by nightfall. Excuse me." He said before leaving.

Anissina followed Stoffel with her gaze. "I'm not sure about his comment about my sense of fashion but I'll just forget that he even said that." she said with an unsure look on her face.

Gwendal sighed in relief just as Conrart arrived back with a glass of water and handed it to him. "What happened while I was away?" Conrart asked.

"Oh, he's horrible. He said that Anissina was abusing Lord Gwendal!" Gisela explained.

Gunter looked away. "Actually, I wonder why you denied it, Gwendal," he said with a slight smile on his face.

"Shut up," Gwendal mumbled before drinking the water that Conrart got for him. "It's better that he doesn't know anything about what really happened, otherwise, he'll end up…" he trailed off when he noticed the way Anissina was looking at him. She seemed disappointed about something. He just took a deep breath and handed the empty glass back to Conrart. "Thank you." He said simply before turning to Anissina. "Let's go sit down." He told her.

Quietly, she just followed him, leaving Gunter, Gisela and Conrart to watch them walk away.

"I feel kind of sorry for those two…" Gunter mumbled.

Conrart had a solemn look on his face but he did not say anything.

Gisela, on the other hand, seemed very clueless about what her father had mentioned. "What do you mean, father?" she asked curiously.

"Oh. It's nothing. Why don't you go over there to the buffet table and see what Wolfram is eating? I'll just mingle with the other guests over there." Gunter suggested before leaving her behind.

"Well, I'll go see what the rest of the guests are up to." Conrart said before going on his own way.

Gisela frowned. "What are they hiding from me?" she thought in annoyance before walking over to Wolfram. "Maybe he can tell me something useful," she wondered quietly as she casually approached him and flashed him a sweet smile. "Hello, Wolfram." She greeted just as he was biting on a shrimp cocktail.

"Hi, Gisela. Care for some of these?" he asked, offering for her to pick out a shrimp cocktail from the dish on the buffet table.

She readily picked up one and tasted it. "My, it's very delicious!" she said in amazement.

"Yeah. Mother really picked out the best caterer for this party. Unfortunately, it's Stoffel's birthday we're celebrating." Wolfram said before sighing heavily. "You know I'm kind of glad that Yuuri's not here because if he was, Stoffel would be demonstrating his annoying butt-kissing strategies again." he told her.

"Stoffel never changed through the years. I think he's just trying to be nice but deep inside, he's still a bit selfish with his motives." Gisela said before she finally spotted the area where Anissina and Gwendal were seated. Wolfram noticed that she was looking at something so he followed her gaze and saw his eldest brother together with Anissina seated by the gazebo some 10 meters away from them. "Look at those two. People are really talking about them right now. Just moments ago, I heard some old ladies gossiping about them getting engaged. I never thought that information would leak out!" he said.

Gisela blinked. "What?" she asked, surprised with the revelation.

"You mean you didn't know about that?" Wolfram asked but he shrugged. "Oh well. I was only 40 when they almost got engaged. Everyone from mother to Anissina's family already agreed, but Stoffel greatly disapproved of it and threatened that he would cause big trouble if the engagement pushed through. It's one of the reasons why Gwendal is too cold towards him. As for me," he picked up another shrimp cocktail. "I just hate Stoffel because he's really annoying and he tried to manipulate my mother into doing things which he thought would benefit him." He explained grudgingly.

Gisela was at a loss for words. "Really?" she asked before turning her attention back to Gwendal and Anissina. "So there's really more into those two than what meets the eye." She said softly. "But how nobody ever fought for their right to be together?" she asked sadly.

"To save time and trouble, I guess. Gwendal doesn't really like getting into big fights when he has other things to do." Wolfram explained.

Gisela's lips curled into a disdainful pout. "How sad." She said softly.

Wolfram's facial expression softened. "Yeah. I… I know I may act bad towards Gwendal sometimes but really, I feel very sorry for him. Right now I'm just glad that he's somewhat together with Anissina. I'm just praying that something good happens so that he can finally be happy. I don't really like seeing him sad, you know. I mean, he's still my brother after all." He pointed out.

She smiled at him. "I understand your point." She said, nodding her head in agreement.

Meanwhile, Gwendal could sense that his younger brother was telling Gisela about something that involves him and Anissina. "That tattletale…" he muttered.

Anissina looked at him curiously.

"I'll be he's talking about me to Gisela." He told her.

She shook her head while chuckling. "You're being paranoid again." she said.

"I'm not being paranoid. Look at them; they're looking at us and they're talking!" he said through clenched teeth.

She sighed heavily. "Just leave them alone. If they are indeed talking about us, well, they're not the only ones talking about us anyway." She told him.

Then they were silent.

"Come to think of it," Anissina began after some four to five minutes of silence. Gwendal turned to her with an inquiring gaze as she continued to speak, "this is the first time we ever attended a formal party together ever since…" she trailed off when he continued for her, "…the incident." He looked away. "Yes, I remember. Don't bring it up anymore." He said.

She was quiet for a few moments before she sighed and began to observe the other guests socializing with one another. "150 years ago, we were quite young. Do you remember, Gwendal?" she asked.

"I said, don't bring it up anymore." He muttered, trying to keep a straight face.

She clenched her fist before getting up, dragging him with her. "Well I can't stay here the whole day! Let's go talk to some of the guests, shall we?" she asked.

"Anissina," he began, not really wanting to mingle because of their situation.

She stopped and faced him with a stern look on her face. "What's the matter, Gwendal? Are you too embarrassed to be around me now?" she demanded.

He just looked at her helplessly.

She smiled sweetly. "Now, let's go." She said before turning away to lead the way.

oOoOo

_Several hours later…_

By 11 in the evening, Anissina was still very much active in the party—dancing, socializing, drinking and eating. Gwendal, however, was already stressed out and very tired. He had been thinking about his cat, wondering where she could have gone to, while at the same time, being wary of the stares he and Anissina had been receiving from the other nobles who were curious about their "manacled situation". Gwendal wondered how Anissina could still be so lively after a long day of partying and socializing. "Oh well… you're just so full of energy," he mumbled mindlessly while observing her as she was talking to Gisela.

Unfortunately for him, she heard him and she looked up at him curiously. She smirked. "Look at those eyes, Gisela. That's an example of tired eyes. I have made special eyedrops to relieve tired eyes, unfortunately I haven't tried them out yet on someone." She told Gisela.

Gisela, on the other hand, was looking into Gwendal's eyes. "He does look very tired, Anissina. I think he needs to sleep now." She said.

"I know. It's just one of the sad things about growing old—you get tired more easily!" Anissina said, meaning to tease Gwendal.

He just grunted and decided to go back to the table where liquor and other drinks are being served. "I need another drink…" he muttered, dragging her with him.

"Gwendal, I think you've had enough," she told him.

"You _think_. I think not." He answered. They reached the table and he grabbed another glass of scotch and drank its contents in one gulp. Anissina watched with a disgusted look on her face as he put down the empty glass and then got another one filled with more of that liquor. She cringed as she watched him chug down its contents. "Gwendal," she began.

He finished drinking the scotch and grunted. "How long should we still stay in this party? I want to go home and rest!" he told her.

Anissina looked around, scanning the crowd. Everybody still seems to be having fun. "My, Lady Celi can really plan parties that can last for days." She remarked in amazement before turning back to him. "I don't think this is going to end by midnight. Would you like to go back to the Castle now?" she asked.

"Yes, please." He mumbled wearily as he rubbed his forehead with his left index and middle fingers.

For the sake of good manners, Anissina began to look for either Cecilie or Stoffel to excuse themselves from the party because Gwendal needed some rest. She was hoping that it would be Cecilie whom they would have to excuse themselves from, but unfortunately, it was Stoffel who she saw first. She breathed in and led the way to Stoffel.

"Where are we going?" Gwendal asked.

"We're going to say goodbye to the celebrant since we can't find your mother." She explained. As they approached Stoffel, the older man was already eyeing them curiously.

"Gwendal and I would like you to excuse us from this party. As you can see, he's already very tired." She told Stoffel.

Stoffel blinked. "I see. He's been drinking too much, huh?" he asked, observing his nephew. "So typical of him. Just like his father. Well then, take care of him, will you, Anissina?" He said nicely before turning away to attend to another guest.

Anissina was surprised. She had been expecting some harsh treatment from him but he was actually nice to her. She was beginning to suspect that something must be going on and she does not know anything about it. "This man is absolutely up to something again…" she was thinking as she was guiding Gwendal out of the ballroom. "Hey, wasn't my father and brother talking to him when we arrived this afternoon?" she wondered to herself.

"You seem restless." Gwendal pointed out, interrupting her thoughts.

"Why is he suddenly nice to me?" she asked bluntly.

"Who?" he asked, not being able to think clearly because he was beginning to suffer a headache.

"Your Uncle." She responded.

"Now you're the one who's being paranoid," he pointed out with a teasing tone, although he appeared to be in pain.

"Where are you guys going? The party's not yet over?" Wolfram asked, running after them with Conrart trailing from behind him.

"Gwendal needs to go home and rest." She pointed out.

"Nah. He's just getting too old for fun and games." Wolfram teased.

"Will you stop bothering me?" Gwendal asked in annoyance.

"Anyway, we're going with you now. I'm so sick of that party." Wolfram told them as he and Conrart walked along with them to where the coachman had parked their carriage.

"What about Gunter and Gisela?" Anissina asked.

"They have arranged for their own transportation from Gunter's castle. Gunter wants to spend the night in his own castle and Gisela wants to go with him since it has been a while since the last time they had been to the Kleist Castle." Conrart explained.

On their way to the carriage, they passed by one of the many fountains in the castle and they all sensed someone coming out from the water. Surprisingly, it was Yuuri, their Maou, together with Ken Murata, the Great Sage.

"Yuuri!" Wolfram exclaimed.

"Back so soon, Your highness?" Conrart asked in amazement.

Gwendal shook his head in dismay. "And I thought it was my cat…" he bowed down his head.

Yuuri stared at them curiously. "Why are you all dressed formally? And where did we come out this time?" he asked, looking around.

"I think we're at the Spitzweg Castle, Shibuya," Murata pointed out.

Yuuri remembered the statue Stoffel had asked to be made for him and he cringed. "Pumpkin pants…" he thought in disgust.

"It's Stoffel's birthday and our mother planned the whole party for him but we're going home now because Gwendal is tired." Conrart explained as he was helping Yuuri and Murata out of the water.

Wolfram eyed Yuuri in disgust, seeing the weeds and the moss stuck on his whole body. "Stoffel should have these fountains cleaned." He remarked.

Yuuri looked at himself. "…Hell yeah." He mumbled.

"Come now, your majesty. Let us take you home so that you can clean yourself." Conrart said.

Murata, however, was looking at the castle and his eyes seemed to be dancing in delight. "I'd like to go inside and see what's going on! I think everyone's having fun there!" he said excitedly.

"What? But look at you! You're covered in moss dirty water!" Yuuri remarked.

"Well, I'm the Great Sage, after all! No one would care if I had dirt on my face if they saw me there! I'll see you tomorrow, Shibuya!" Murata waved goodbye and headed inside the castle. Surprisingly, the guards recognized who he was and immediately let him in without even questioning him.

"What about you, your Majesty, are you sure you don't want to go inside and meet the guests?" Anissina asked.

Yuuri shook his head immediately. "No! I'm fine! Really. I just want to go back to my castle and get myself all cleaned up." He said with a weak smile on his face; although they could tell that he does not really want to go inside because of the reason that Stoffel is still there.

oOoOo

Upon arriving at Blood Pledge Castle, Gwendal led the way straight to his own bedroom with Anissina just walking beside him and guiding his every step because his legs were already beginning to wobble. "Admit it, Gwendal, you drank too much tonight. Tomorrow you'll have a nasty hangover, which means that you need to take one of my remedies!" she said in amazement, excited for the fact that she could test one of her new hangover remedies on someone who would actually experience a hangover. He did not say anything. "I just want to rest now," he mumbled.

As soon as they got to his room, he went straight to his bed and plopped down on it, taking Anissina with him. He was asleep within 5 seconds and Anissina was left awake to ponder what she was going to do. She was not sleepy yet and she wished she could go to her laboratory to experiment on a new potion, but it was impossible for her to move away from Gwendal with those manacles. "On the other hand, I could drag him with me to my laboratory, but that would be tedious." She thought miserably before taking a deep breath and sighing heavily, deciding to just lay completely beside him and just let herself drift off to sleep.

oOoOo

-to be continued.-

Author's Note: I had to think of a Russian-sounding name for Anissina's dad so I named him Nikolai. Anyway, for Anissina's brother, someone else wrote a fic on GwendalxAnissina and she mentioned that the name of her brother is Demitri, based from the novels… or at least that's how I was able to understand it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

oOoOo

_6 months later…_

"Uuuuuurrrgggh….." Gwendal was seated on a tall stool with a glum look on his face with a pile of unsigned documents on the table in front of him. The smell of chlorine mixed with the smell of sulfur was getting into his nerves and he wondered why Anissina was not the least affected by the smell—and she is not even wearing a gasmask.

It had been 6 months since Gwendal's cat ran off and she still has not returned from whatever expedition she went into. The soldiers who were assigned to look for the cat were already beginning to suspect that the cat must have died somewhere already or ran away with a stray; but Wolfram and Conrart had other opinions. According to Conrart, the cat must have been eaten by wild dogs or people; and Wolfram came up with the conclusion that the cat must have had a great dislike of Gwendal so she ran away, but the key inside her stomach gave her constipation and her bowels accumulating inside of her caused bacteria to form and killed her eventually. Gwendal, upon hearing those reasons from his own brothers, started to think that the possibility of him getting manacled to Anissina until death already got higher, like there is only a two-percent chance that he could get away from her. Gunter, however, jokingly suggested to Gwendal that he could either kill Anissina or saw off his own hand, whichever is more convenient for him. Anissina also heard that and surprisingly, she and Gwendal had the same reaction. They both thought that it was a bad joke.

Anissina still remained very optimistic about their situation, though. She declared that she would try to concoct a new acid that could melt the "magical" and super-strong chains of the manacles, while at the same time, they would still wait for the cat to return. Both plans would take too long to happen, but she still maintained as positive outlook on things, as expected of her. Gwendal, however, was losing hope, but they eventually came to compromise that they must continue living their lives stuck together. The morning hours were allotted for Gwendal to do his rounds around the kingdom, do his inspection, or any of the usual things he does for his daily routine on the field. The afternoon hours, however, are for Anissina. She would just be in her laboratory working on a new machine, potion, or coming up with new ideas or if she got inspired, she would start writing a new novel. Gwendal, on the other hand, while she would be doing her own work, was to do his paperwork in her laboratory. He wished there would be someone to help him out because once in a while, he would be distracted or interrupted by Anissina when she needs to move around the laboratory to search for something; yet nobody seems to want to approach him whenever he is in Anissina's laboratory. Greta or Gisela were the only ones who can freely come and go inside that laboratory without having any worries of getting experimented upon by Anissina, but since they do not have the authority to sign papers for him, he just decided to leave them alone and do his work by himself.

Evenings were spent like this: dinner with the Maou at 7, reading bedtime stories to Greta at 9, and then they are off to do whatever else they want to do, depending on who gets to be more superior than the other when making decisions. Oftentimes, Anissina would just let him knit to relax and as much as possible, she would prevent him to work in the evenings. She just thought that a change of evening routine for him can do great wonders for his mood and lower his stress levels. She was right. He became more patient, and he appeared to be smiling more often. Gwendal, on the other hand, was beginning to get used to having Anissina attached to him, but once in a while, he would like to break free especially when they need to dress up or change their clothes… or use the bathroom… and worst part of it all: take a bath. He did, however, get used to Anissina sleeping beside him. They would take turns sleeping in each other's rooms and they both got used to this routine.

oOoOo

One particular afternoon, when Gwendal was already on the brink of going crazy with the smell of sulfur and chlorine, he was glad when somebody opened the laboratory doors and it was not Greta or Gisela; it was Conrart.

Anissina lifted her gaze from the liquid boiling inside the test tube on the Bunsen burner and smiled pleasantly at Conrart. "Why, hello, Conrart. What brings you here?" she inquired.

Conrart imagined that he was like some prey who entered unknowingly in a dragon's nest but he just maintained his composure and smiled pleasantly at her. "Your brother is here, Anissina." He announced.

Anissina's smile froze while Gwendal raised his eyebrows, forgetting about the smell.

oOoOo

Demitri von Karbelnikoff raked his fingers through his red hair as he smirked at Lady Cecilie von Spitzweg. "I'm sure that can be arranged." He told her.

She just smiled, nodding her head in agreement. "Just don't mention it anymore to my brother. You know how he is against it." She pointed out.

Just then, the door of the tearoom opened and Conrart stepped inside with Anissina and Gwendal trailing close behind him.

Demitri's blue eyes widened when he saw the look on his sister's face. "I could tell by that look on your face that you were interrupted while something's boiling on your Bunsen burner, huh?" he teased in amazement.

She just smiled stiffly at him. "Not really." She said through clenched teeth before she and Gwendal approached the couches to sit with them. Gwendal, on the other hand, was amazed on how Demitri really knew his own sister but he just kept quiet.

"I'll be outside," Conrart said, but Gwendal stopped him by verbal order, "No, you stay here."

Conrart, Anissina and Cecilie were surprised that Gwendal actually sounded like he was pleading. Conrart understood why Gwendal wanted him to stay: he wanted him to serve as someone who would back him up just in case something against him is going to be mentioned. Conrart smiled at his older brother. "Alright." He said simply before proceeding to sit down beside him. The three of them were facing the couches where Lady Celi and Lord Demitri were seated. At first they all sat in silence with serious looks on their faces…except for Conrart who still had that perpetual smile plastered on his face.

"I'm so glad the two of you could join Demitri and me for tea!" Cecilie said brightly.

Gwendal's left eye twitched. "So this is what it's all about? You just want us to join you for tea?" he demanded.

"Well I think there's nothing wrong with that. I did put out the fire before coming here." Anissina said pleasantly as the maids Doria, Lasagna and Sangria arrived from outside with the food cart and the tea, crumpets and other pastries on it.

Gwendal had a dumbfounded look on his face before turning to Anissina. "Anissina," he muttered her name through clenched teeth as he nudged her with his elbow.

"What's wrong, Gwendal? You don't like tea?" Demitri asked lightheartedly.

"What's going on?" Gwendal asked directly with a serious look on his face.

"You're so uptight, my dear son. Just relax and chill! We just want to spend time with you and Anissina, isn't that right, Conrart?" Cecilie asked with a sweet smile on her face.

Conrart turned his attention to his mother just as Doria handed him his cup of tea. "Ah. Yes, mother." He answered.

Anissina eyed her older brother. "Where's father?" she asked.

"He's on another cruise. He says he loves to relax on the ocean." Demitri explained. Conrart, Gwendal and Anissina quietly observed that Demitri was putting 10 cubes of sugar in his tea before finally stirring it with a teaspoon.

"That's ridiculous. Our castle sits by the ocean." Anissina pointed out.

"_On_ the ocean, sister dear. He wants to relax while he's _on_ the ocean." Demitri corrected with a wink. "Let our old man take vacations outside our castle, Anissina. It's better than making him experience boredom." He added before taking a large gulp of the tea, making everyone wonder if it was hot or not.

"Anissina," Cecilie interrupted.

Anissina looked at her.

Cecilie dismissed the three maids. "It's okay, you can leave now." She told them sweetly. The three curtsied and left the tearoom, closing the door behind them.

Gwendal, however, could still tell that the three are still outside by the door to listen to the conversation that was about to begin.

"How are you feeling, my dear?" Cecilie asked.

Anissina was surprised by the question but she just smiled calmly. "I'm feeling good, thank you very much." She answered.

Cecilie shifted her gaze to her eldest son. Gwendal just eyed his mother carefully. "Mother," he began.

She smirked. "About what happened 150 years ago…" she began.

Gwendal immediately placed his teacup and saucer down on the coffee table. "I'm not having this conversation." He said.

"Stoffel is not around; we can discuss freely whatever we want to discuss." Demitri told him.

Conrart and Anissina noticed the sudden helpless look on Gwendal's face as he looked at them, his eyes telling them to say something, but the two were at a loss for words.

Outside, the three maids were wondering what why everyone was suddenly silent inside the tearoom. "What happened 150 years ago anyway?" Lasagna asked curiously.

"You mean you don't know?" Sangria asked in shock.

"Hey, girls, what's going on?"

The three jumped up in surprise when they heard the Maou speaking from behind them. They immediately faced him and bowed down. "Oh, your highness! We're sorry; we didn't know that you were there!" Doria apologized.

Yuuri blinked, looking at the closed doors of the tearoom. "What's going on in there?" he asked as he approached the door just as the three maids gave way for him. He leaned his right ear against the door and he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking inside.

"Who's inside?" he asked softly.

"That's Lord Demitri von Karbelnikoff. He is Lady Anissina's older brother, your highness." Doria answered.

Yuuri's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked, smiling. He has not actually met Demitri in person and he only heard stories about him from Gunter and Wolfram. He was curious on how he looks like, because he was only informed that the man looks so much like his younger sister, except that he is taller…and well, he is a man. "I'd like to meet him. He's the current head of the Karbelnikoff household, right?" he asked the maids.

"Well, yes, your highness, but I don't think you can come in there right now." Sangria explained.

"What? Why not?" Yuuri asked, feeling disappointed that he would have to postpone his formal introduction to one of the nicest nobles in Shin Makoku. As much as possible, Yuuri would like to make friends with all members of the 10 Aristocratic families and apparently, he has only been able get to know a few of them.

"Lady von Spitzweg, Lady von Karbelnikoff, Lord von Voltaire and Lord Weller are also inside. I think they're about to talk about something important that happened 150 years ago." Lasagna pointed out. Then she covered her mouth. "Oops! I think I've said too much already…" she mumbled.

Yuuri raised his eyebrows. "150 years ago?" he echoed before turning back to the door. He decided to just stand there and listen.

"Y…your, highness," Doria began, feeling nervous for his sake, but the maids were actually surprised that he had decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Yuuri hushed them as he began to listen. The three eventually joined him.

"It's been a long time already, don't you think so, Gwendal?" they heard Demitri inquiring.

"You never even tried to discuss the matter with me. It made me wonder whether your intentions are indeed sincere or not, or you just said it out of some spur-of-the-moment thing just because your father instructed you to get married before you turn 300." They heard Cecilie say.

"Father is dead so it doesn't matter right now." Gwendal said.

"Yes, but it is written in his last will and testament that you should be married to any of the daughters belonging to an aristocratic family here in our kingdom, otherwise, your ownership of your castle and everything your father left to your care will be taken away from you." She told him.

"You mean to say that my title and me surname will be stripped away from me, isn't it?" Gwendal asked.

Yuuri's eyes widened when he heard that. "Crap! That's harsh!" he thought.

"Mother, don't you think that's unfair for Gwendal? He has… been the representative of his father ever since he died. I don't think it's reasonable right now if everything is just taken away from him." Conrart pointed out.

"We all feel the same way, Conrart, but it has been written by a person who already passed away. As mazoku we have to honor the final wishes of the dead." Cecilie explained.

Anissina felt as if she could not contain herself any longer. She decided to finally have her say. "I never really mentioned this to anybody else, except for Julia," she began.

All eyes turned to her, especially Conrart, upon the mention of the name _Julia_.

"Anissina," Gwendal began. He could recall that she never really said anything about the matter ever since it was first presented to her… ever since that evening when it all happened. He never even saw any single trace of reaction from her facial expression when the revelation happened. Before, all she said was, "I'm too young anyway." And then she walked away. Now he is surprised because she would finally say how she feels about the situation.

She had a serious look on her face as she proceeded with her sentence, "but Gwendal and I are… okay as we are right now."

Outside, Yuuri felt her heart jump when he heard what she said. "What? That's a lie!" he thought in protest, although he wondered what made him feel that what Anissina had just mentioned is a lie. "Why am I reacting this way?" he wondered with a troubled look on his face. Then, he felt the crest of the Wincott family glowing. He looked down at it and held it tightly in his fist. "Anissina," he said softly, puzzling the three maids.

But Demitri could easily read the look in his sister's eyes.

Anissina smiled. "I get it now—the reason why Demitri and my father were talking to Stoffel. Stoffel doesn't want Gwendal to be stripped off of his name as the only heir to the von Voltaire household because if that happens, everything will be passed down to Hube's father, is that it?" she asked.

Cecilie and Demitri were surprised with what she said, but they had to admit that she was right. The latter smiled at his younger sister. "You're very smart, Anissina." He remarked.

"So now Stoffel doesn't like Hube's father and if everything gets passed down to him, Gwendal will have nothing. The marriage will be for Gwendal's convenience so that he can still be considered as an aristocrat." She continued as she placed her hands on her lap. "Is that what everything's about? Is that why Stoffel is suddenly nice to me while in truth he really doesn't like me and my family?" she asked.

They were all quiet.

"Stoffel, Stoffel, Stoffel. Why does it always have to be about him? What about how I feel?" Gwendal demanded in annoyance as he got up, dragging Anissina's hand with him. "Sometimes I wish I had never been born into nobility anymore!" he declared. Everyone could tell that he has already lost his patience but they could not do anything about it. "I am not going to marry Anissina just so that I can remain an aristocrat." He decided before turning to her. "Let's leave." He told her.

She quietly obeyed, standing up and walking with him to the door.

"Gwendal," Cecilie began.

"I don't want to hear it!" Gwendal cried out in annoyance. Somehow, he could feel his heart breaking and a string of emotions from inside him that had been repressed for a very long time already was causing him to feel so sad and disappointed about his life that it was bringing tears to his eyes. He just bowed down his head and quickly opened the door, surprising Yuuri and the three maids.

Yuuri did not know what to say when he saw the look on Gwendal's face and the tears in his eyes. It was the first time he has ever seen him looking so fragile and it made him feel as if his heart had sunk. "G…Gwendal," he stammered. And then he turned to Anissina who appeared to be very dazed as she just quietly followed after Gwendal who was walking as briskly as he could back to his office.

"Your highness," Conrart stated from inside the tearoom.

Yuuri slowly turned his gaze to Conrart. He looked troubled. "Conrart, is Gwendal…" he began.

Conrart's facial expression softened and he just told Yuuri to let Gwendal be for a while.

Demitri smiled brightly and he immediately got up to approach Yuuri. "Oh, finally I am able to meet you up close!" he said excitedly. "I was kinda hoping since I got here that I'd get to meet you finally." He added, shaking his Majesty's hand eagerly. "I am Lord Demitri von Karbelnikoff; I am Anissina's older brother. How do you do, your highness?" he greeted pleasantly.

Yuuri was surprised with his energy and he just smiled weakly at him. "I'm… doing great, thank you, Lord Demitri." He responded.

Demitri grinned and released his hand before turning back to Cecilie and Conrart.

The two just stared at Yuuri with unsure looks on their faces. They knew that Yuuri was able to hear everything that was discussed from outside. "Lady Celi, Conrart, Lord Demitri, if you don't mind, I'd like to know something about Gwendal and Anissina." He requested.

They were all quiet for a moment before Demitri led the way back to the couches. "Well then, your highness, why don't you join us for tea?" he asked pleasantly.

Yuuri had no other choice but to oblige.

oOoOo

Anissina closed the door behind her as quickly as she could before Gwendal could drag her to his desk. He went over to the window and only stopped when he reached it. He took a deep breath as he clenched his jaw and his fists before releasing his breath slowly.

"Is that true, Gwendal?" she asked.

He was surprised with the question that he turned to look at her. She was already standing by his side.

"You don't want to marry me, ever?" she asked.

He frowned before looking away. "This is the reason why I didn't want to get manacled with you. Everyone is going to make a big deal out of it and the next thing we know, they're bringing up the things that shouldn't have to be discussed anymore!" he said. He bowed down his head.

Anissina stood still for a moment before smiling bitterly as she recalled the past…

_She was only in her 80's when one day, she was summoned over to Blood_ _Pledge_ _Castle_ _with her father and older brother one summer's evening. Queen Cecilie, the Maou from back then, was the one who invited them over. It was a dinner party for them. Anissina wondered what the occasion was but even her father, who seemed to be hiding something, refused to tell her what the dinner party was for._

_Upon arriving at the Castle, they were greeted by Gunter, who was also one of Anissina's private tutors back then. He looked very pleased and excited about something as he escorted them to the dining hall where the Queen was already seated with her three sons._

_Gwendal smiled upon seeing Anissina. "Hello, Gwendal!" she greeted pleasantly._

"_Anissina!" Wolfram, who was still very little, ran over to her happily and hugged her tightly. "You're here!" he cheered._

"_That is enough, Wolfram, let her sit down," Gunter told him sternly._

"_I'm just greeting her, old man!" Wolfram said in a bratty manner before releasing Anissina and went back over to his chair beside his mother._

_Cecilie smiled. "I'm glad you all could make it," she said._

"_Of course, Celi. It's your invitation! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Nikolai von Karbelnikoff answered. Demitri took his seat beside Conrart and the two began to talk about dragons._

_Anissina took her seat opposite to Gwendal and as soon as everybody has settled down, dinner was served._

_Cecilie and Nikolai discussed things about the kingdom while Gunter helped in spoon-feeding Wolfram. Demitri and Conrart were still engaged in their own conversation, while Anissina was telling Gwendal about her plans of going to the woods the next day to collect herbs and poisoned mushrooms for her new potion and he was asking him to accompany her._

_Gwendal nodded. "Sure, I'd love to accompany you, Anissina." He told her._

_After dinner, they had dessert, and while having dessert, an unexpected guest arrived. It was Stoffel von Spitzweg. Cecilie never expected her older brother to arrive at such short notice. "Stoffel! I thought you're out-of-town!" she exclaimed._

"_I had to cut my trip short. I want to make sure that you're managing things the right way around here as Queen." He told her sternly before taking a seat beside Nikolai. Everyone seemed to have kept quiet upon his arrival. He continued to talk to Cecilie, "I heard you had another grand ball some two nights ago. You should cut down on partying and concentrate more on planning for war!"_

"_What war are you talking about? There's no war!" she answered haughtily._

"_There's nothing wrong with being prepared, now, is there?" he pointed out with a know-it-all manner of speaking before turning to Nikolai. "Oh hello, von Karbelnikoff, I didn't realize you are here." He said before turning back to Cecilie. "As I was saying," he began._

_Nikolai frowned upon the way Stoffel had treated him._

_Demitri was trying to contain himself out of respect, but Anissina was the fearless and outspoken one. "You're a rude man, you know that?"_

_Everyone turned to her. Wolfram cheered. "Yay! Go, Anissina!!!" he cried out before Gunter shushed him down._

_Stoffel turned to Anissina with a look of surprise on his face. "Well, well, your daughter surely takes on after her mother, huh, Nikolai?" he asked with sarcasm in his tone._

_Anissina frowned at him. "So what if I'm like my mother? At least I can be proud that I'm not one of those plastic socialite women around here!" she said proudly._

"_Your mother is dead, young lady, so behave yourself if you don't want her ghost to haunt you." Stoffel told her sternly before rolling his eyes. "My god. One day, she's going to end up just like her…" he said._

"_Don't speak of my mother that way!" Anissina said angrily._

"_That is enough, Anissina," Nikolai told his daughter with a serious look on his face before turning to Stoffel. "I'm sorry about my daughter, Lord von Spitzweg, she's just…" he began, but Anissina interrupted her father by saying, "Why should you apologize for me, father? I didn't do anything wrong! He's the one who's speaking ill of mother!"_

_Stoffel just kept quiet as Nikolai just eyed her warningly._

_Stoffel turned to Cecilie. "Why are they here anyway?" he asked; his tone degrading. Back then, the von Karbelnikoffs had a bad name attached to them by some of the nobles because they did not like Anissina's mother, Anastasia. Anastasia, who happened to be one of Cecilie's good friends, died because of unknown causes, although most people speculated that she must have accidentally inhaled one of the poisonous gasses that she had been keeping inside her laboratory. Among the nobles, only a few were able to appreciate who Anastasia was, because everybody else thought she was insane just because her manner of thinking and seeing things was different from the traditional ways of society._

_Cecilie was quiet for a few moments before turning to Gwendal with a solemn smile on her face. "Well, Gwendal, why don't you explain to your Uncle the real reason on why we invited Anissina and her family over for dinner?" she asked._

_Gwendal nodded with a dignified look on his face before he turned to Stoffel. "I'm planning to propose to Anissina tonight. I would like to marry her, Uncle Stoffel." He explained._

_Stoffel's mouth dropped open and Anissina's eyes widened._

"_Whoa…" Demitri reacted in amazement._

_When nobody else reacted, Gwendal took it as a sign that he should stand up already. He went over to Anissina, but when he was about to slap her left cheek with his right hand, Stoffel instantly got up and grabbed hold of his wrist to stop him. "Gwendal, what do you think you're doing?" Stoffel demanded._

"_Unhand me! I'm going to propose to her!" Gwendal said angrily._

_Anissina just sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face. She felt as if her energy got drained all of a sudden and for the first time ever, she did not know what to do or what to say._

"_No you're not! You're going to ruin your life if you marry her! Just…" Stoffel looked at Anissina in disgust. "…just look at her!"_

_Wolfram sat still, observing the events that would forever be etched in his childhood memories._

"_So what? Just because she's smarter than the rest of the ladies out there doesn't mean that she's not good enough for me! Anissina and I have been friends for a very long time now and I'd like to marry her, Stoffel," Gwendal pointed out haughtily. His facial expression softened as he turned to Anissina with a gentle smile on his face. "I love her, uncle." He said softly._

_Anissina just stared up at him with a confused look on her face._

_Cecilie got up and clasped her hands together, swooning. "Oh, brother dear, can't you see? Your nephew's all grown-up now! He's all ready to get engaged to Anissina! Ah, young love," she said dreamily._

"_It's your fault, Celi. You and your matchmaking schemes! You're going to bring about disastrous results in your son's life here! You could have just introduced her to one of those von Wincott girls! At least Odel's family is more respected by the rest of the nobles than…" Stoffel got cut off by Gwendal, "I will not have you speak ill of Anissina's family ever again, do you understand?" he demanded as he pulled his hand away from his uncle and pushed him away._

_Anissina got up. "Enough!" he said._

_Everyone looked at her with inquiring stares._

"_If this is just going to cause trouble in your family, then let's just forget about this." She pointed out before turning to her father. "Let's just go home, father. I'm tired." She said before leading the way to the door. "I'm too young anyway," she said grudgingly before stepping out of the room._

"_Anissina," Gwendal called out, but Stoffel looked at him warningly. He could feel his ego getting crushed and all he could do was to keep quiet._

Anissina looked up at Gwendal, frowning slightly. "I never said anything else back then, Gwendal, but…" she stopped. She recalled the time when she told Julia about her true feelings regarding what happened. She just looked away when he spoke up, "Why didn't you say anything back then? It seemed like you never cared for me at all. Did you know how difficult it was for me to just forget about everything?" he asked.

She did not respond.

"I didn't want to get stuck with you in the first place so why did you do this? Why are you so laid-back about us being stuck together? Did you know how hard I tried to just forget everything, and now it seems like all my efforts just went down the drain!" he told her. He looked away and observed the courtyard which he can view from the window. He could see Gisela picking some flowers that she is probably going to turn into medicine. "And now here is another opportunity for me to finally be able to get engaged to you but there's a catch. It's going to be a marriage for my own convenience just so that I can keep my family name and title." He shook his head in dismay. "I hate these laws… and I hate the fact that my own father had to write that goddamn last will and testament." He said through clenched teeth.

She just kept quiet. He remembered Gwendal complaining to her about his father when they were still very young. He used to tell her that his father did not love him enough that's why he preferred to stay with his mother; however, when his father died, he did accept being the successor of his father. "So what now?" she asked.

"I guess I'll just have to cherish my remaining years before I turn 300." He told her.

She was quiet for a moment before saying, "It's still quite a long time from now anyway."

"But Stoffel is not going to stop bothering me about it, I know. He wants me to remain a von Voltaire for selfish reasons." He said.

She smirked. "Well, I've got an idea," she said, her face lightening up.

He looked at her.

"Let's wait until you lose your family name and then when you finally want to marry me, you're going to have to take my surname." She explained with a teasing grin.

He smiled at her and he managed to even laugh at what she said. He simply admired her optimism and the way she would try to make him feel better whenever he was stressed out. "No." he said before turning away.

She took a deep breath and smiled solemnly as she watched Greta in the courtyard who just joined Gisela in picking the flowers. "You said you didn't want to be around me so that you'd forget everything." She said.

He did not respond.

"Tell me Gwendal, were you able to completely forget everything? Be honest with me." She said.

He focused his gaze to the windowsill but he was quiet for a few moments before finally replying a soft, "No."

His answer triggered something in Anissina—a feeling that she has been suppressing for a very long time already.

He looked at her solemnly. "I couldn't. I just… can't." he said.

Anissina felt his right hand, whose wrist is manacled with hers, brush against her left hand and it startled her at first, but she eventually let him hold her hand. They stood there in complete silence, just looking outside the window with soft smiles on their faces.

"Then if we indeed get married, it would not seem like you're just using me so that you can keep your family name." she said.

He looked at her in surprise. She smiled sweetly at him. "That's your real reason on why you don't want to agree to Stoffel's plan, isn't it?" she asked.

He smiled calmly at her. "You can really read me that easily, huh?" he asked.

Then turned their gazes outside the window again, observing the birds flying in the skies.

"Let's continue where we left off, shall we?" he asked her.

She agreed before lowering her gaze to the chains. "But first, we need to really get ourselves out of these manacles." She told him.

oOoOo

It was around 2 in the morning when Conrart sensed a strange presence inside his room. Sleepily, he opened his eyes and saw two shadowy figures by his bed.

"Wakey-wakey, Lord Weller!" he recognized the voice to be Anissina's.

Conrart grunted and sat up. "What's going on?" he asked her, and then he turned to Gwendal.

"We need you to help us with Chain-Eater-Kun." Gwendal said, showing him the big special power tool that Anissina had created. It resembled a really big chainsaw.

"Uh… don't you need someone with maryoku to work that big machine of yours, Anissina?" Conrart asked.

"No. This time, I've created a more efficient machine so that those with no maryoku can still use it! Now I want you to pull that string over there and it will start working then I want you to cut the blades through the chain of the manacles." Anissina commanded.

"Can't this wait until tomorrow morning?" Conrart asked, feeling weird about the situation. He just wondered to himself why, of all people, did they have to come to him.

Gwendal and Anissina looked at him with stern expressions on their faces, which made Conrart feel a little bad for them. "Alright." He said as he got out of bed and grabbed Chain-Eater-Kun from Gwendal. "When did you make this?" he asked.

The two moved apart from each other so that Conrart can get a better view of the chain. "I spent the rest of the afternoon and the whole evening making this. Gwendal, of course, helped me." Anissina said proudly. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, admiring the design.

Conrart blinked. "It looks like Christmas." He remarked, seeing that the colors are green and red. With that, he pulled the string with enough force and the blade began to work, creating a loud whrrrrrrring noise. "Goodness…" he reacted in awe.

"Just hurry." Gwendal said, bracing himself.

"And don't miss!" Anissina said.

Conrart began to try cutting through the chain with Chain-Eater-Kun and while doing so, he was beginning to understand why they asked him to do it for them. He recalled the time when Yuuri attempted to cut the chain with Morgif; Gwendal really thought he would lose a hand back there… Even Anissina got worried.

"Is it working?" Gwendal asked, not wanting to take a look.

Anissina just kept silent, observing as the blades continued to try to cut through the tough chain.

_15 minutes later…_

"I don't think it's working," Conrart began as Chain-Eater-Kun began to slow down and it made a put-put-put sound which indicated that it just ran out of energy.

Anissina snorted. "Useless piece of junk." She muttered in disappointment.

Conrart settled the power tool on the floor and sighed heavily. "I think you two should sleep now. There's another party that we have to attend to in the morning." He told them.

"Another party?" Gwendal asked, feeling annoyed.

"Whose birthday are we celebrating this time?" Anissina asked.

"No one's celebrating his birthday. It's just the annual ball of the nobles." Conrart explained.

It simply meant that they would have to face all the nobles of the kingdom; but this time, Gwendal, did not have any negative reaction towards it. He just smirked. "I almost forgot about that." he said before turning away. "Let's go, Anissina." He said, leading the way to the door.

Anissina waved at Conrart. "I'll see you in the morning. What time is this party?" she asked.

"It's an all-day long celebration here at the castle's ballroom since his Majesty is here. Party starts at 11." Conrart replied just before Anissina and Gwendal had gone out of his room. He then turned to the power tool on his floor. "I don't want to touch that again," he thought before going back to his bed to sleep again.

oOoOo

"What are you thinking of, Gwendal?" Anissina asked just as they were getting onto her bed. It was their turn to sleep in her room that night.

"I'm thinking that we should make the big announcement tomorrow whether we're still manacled or not." He said.

She just sat still on the bed, looking at him.

Gwendal noticed her silence and he turned to her once more as soon as he lay himself down. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing." She replied before laying herself by his side and resting her head on his shoulder. He found himself smiling for no reason at all. "I get it. You're bothered by the thought of marriage, aren't you? You're all about women-empowerment and you want to prove that women can live without men, is that it? Just tell me if you're having second thoughts about this decision, Anissina," he began.

She laughed. "Well yeah. At first I thought, 'hey, I can manage being single for the rest of my life and I'll just remain good friends with Gwendal von Voltaire, it's going to be easy!' and then one day I realized how much I missed those days when we were much younger." She sighed. "We were really inseparable back then." She looked up at him. "And you used to participate in my experiments without any hesitation!" she pointed out.

He frowned at her. "Because back then your inventions were not as dangerous as the ones you're making as you were getting older!" he told her.

She pouted and playfully punched his side, making him react in slight pain. "Ah,"

She just smirked before closing her eyes. He looked at her. "But it's okay with you, isn't it?" he asked.

"Huh?" she looked at him again.

"Marriage, I mean." He said.

Before she could answer, they heard some scratching coming from the door followed by some meowing sound.

Gwendal and Anissina both got up immediately and they raced out of the bed to the door. He immediately opened the door and there was his cat. "…Anissina!" he blurted out its name, surprising her.

"Meow!" the cat responded.

Anissina stared at him in surprise. "You named your cat after me?" she asked.

They noticed that the cat had a key by her left foot and two kittens seated on each of her side. "Meow!" the kittens walked over to them and began to purr.

Gwendal picked up his cat and cuddled it. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you, Anissina?" he asked. The cat responded with a purr.

Anissina smiled at Gwendal. "I've been here all along beside you, Gwendal," she pointed out before picking up the kittens and the key. "Looks like she cleaned the key too." she said before turning to the kittens. "Oh, aren't they such little darlings?" she asked sweetly as she cuddled the kittens. "Looks like your Anissina-Kitty got pregnant when she ran away and returned only now. These kittens look like they're almost 2 months old." She pointed out.

Gwendal turned to the kittens, his left eye twitching. "They're so… cute…" he stammered.

She smirked as she handed the kittens to Gwendal. "Hold them, will you? I have to…" she inserted the key into each of the cuffs' keyholes, finally unlocking them. The metal manacles fell onto the floor, making a loud clanging sound. The two of them stared at the manacles for a while.

"We're free…" he said softly.

She nodded. "I can see that." she answered as she examined her wrist that had been cuffed for six months long. She touched it and rubbed it gently.

The cat and the kittens jumped off from Gwendal's arms and ran off again.

"Where are they going?" he asked.

"Why don't you go follow them? Maybe they just need to use the litter box." She speculated.

He stood still for a moment before looking at her. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before leaving her.

She just watched as he walked away with a soft smile on her face. With that, she picked up the manacles, went back inside her room and shut the door. She kept on glancing at her left wrist and then at the manacles before settling the metal object on her bedside table. She sat down on the bed and slowly lay herself down with a blank look on her face. She breathed in. "Maybe I shouldn't have… unchained ourselves. How come it suddenly feels lonely without him here?" she thought with an uncomfortable look on her face. Just then, her door opened again and there was Gwendal with a stern look on his face. She sat up and looked at him curiously but did not say anything. He walked over to her and sat down on her bed. Anissina could see that he was blushing and it made her want to tease him about it but she just smiled. "I'm… suddenly not used to being alone. Can I… stay here?" he asked with a stiff tone.

And Anissina responded by embracing him. Her action surprised him but he calmed down when she whispered to him, "Yes, you may, Gwendal."

oOoOo

-to be continued.

Author's Note: The last chapter is coming soon. I can't think of a name fit for Anissina's mom so I just picked _Anastasia_ inspired by one of those Romanov girls.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

oOoOo

It was around 7 in the morning when Anissina woke up to the feeling that something cold is around her wrist. "Maybe I just got used to having the cuff around my wrist…" she thought at first, but when she took a closer look when she opened her eyes, she realized that there is, indeed, a cuff around her left wrist. Again. Her eyes widened as she instantly sat up and followed the trail of the chain connected to her cuff and it led to another cuff that was securely around Gwendal's right wrist. He, on the other hand, was still sound asleep and seemingly unaware that they were manacled again.

She felt weird. "Why in the world are we manacled again?" she asked out loud in disbelief before reaching for the key that she remembers putting on the bedside table with the manacles before going to sleep. Much to her panic, the key was not there. "Gwendal!!!"

Gwendal opened his eyes and gazed at her sleepily. "What now? It's too early…" he trailed off when he noticed that he was manacled again to Anissina. "What the—…" he sat up, staring horridly at the cuff around his right wrist. "I thought we…" he stammered.

"I know!" she said in exasperation before dragging him out of the bed. "The key is missing!" she declared.

"What? But why?" he asked.

"Are you sure you didn't manacle us while I was asleep?" she asked suspiciously.

He frowned at her. "No, of course not! Why would I even do that?" he answered with a confused expression. "Ooooh…. Where, where, where is that key?" he heard her say in exasperation as she began to frantically search the bed area for it. He just breathed in and began to help her. "I thought you enjoyed being manacled with me?" he asked.

"I thought we're getting engaged? I didn't dream of getting engaged _or_ getting married while I'm chained to my future husband! A lot of people are going to perceive that in a very negative way!" she explained.

Gwendal blinked. "Come to think about it, you're right…" he said weakly.

They spent another hour and 30 minutes more just looking for the key until somebody began to knock on the door to interrupt them. They stopped and looked at each other with serious looks on their faces. "Nobody else knows that the cat returned with the key and kittens, right?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. I don't think so." He replied, although he looked unsure.

"Anissina, Gwendal? It's Yuuri." Said the voice from outside the door.

"It's his majesty!" the two exclaimed in surprise.

"Uh… can I come in?" Yuuri called out from outside.

Gwendal looked at Anissina. "Well? This is your room," he pointed out.

Anissina jerked slightly. Her mind had become disoriented because of the early-morning commotion. "Come in, your majesty!" she said pleasantly before turning to Gwendal. "Are you sure we didn't dream of being separated from these manacles last night? Like your cat really returned and it wasn't a dream?" she rambled to him.

Gwendal understood why she was acting that way but what he was surprised of was the fact that she actually admitted to actually fantasizing about getting engaged or married someday when she was a child. He just kept quiet as the door opened and there was Yuuri with the Maou's crown on his head and the royal cape draped on his shoulders. He was also holding the royal scepter and he appeared to be sneaking away from somebody. "Can I stay here for a while?" the young Maou asked with a weak smile on his face as he quickly stepped inside and shut the door.

"Your majesty, you look great!" Anissina remarked in amazement.

Yuuri blushed slightly. "Gee, thanks. Uh… why aren't the two of you dressed in your party clothes yet?" he asked.

Gwendal suddenly remembered the annual royal ball of the nobles that was to take place in 30 minutes. "Thank you for reminding us," he said before showing him the chains. "But we're still chained together." He pointed out.

Yuuri stared at the manacles with a confused look on his face. "Haven't you been chained for 6 months now?" he asked.

"Well yes, your highness, but last night, Gwendal's cat arrived but she has kittens already. Luckily when she returned, she brought the key with her." Anissina explained.

Yuuri's face lit up in delight. "Oh, so those are the kittens of Gwendal's cat! Greta was wondering on whose kittens are those. She wants to keep one as a pet." He explained.

"Really? Well she can have one or both." Gwendal answered before turning to Anissina. "And it looks like we are going to be late again."

"Yet another grand entrance." Anissina mumbled.

Yuuri smiled. "Don't worry, I'll enter with you guys. I don't really want to go out there as of the moment. The guests have begun to arrive and Stoffel's one of them… even though he was here quite earlier than the others. I was still in the middle of doing my morning exercises in the courtyard when he arrived!" he explained. He looked up at the ceiling, wondering about something. "And come to think of it, he seems excited about something." He added.

Anissina breathed in and smiled. "Well, your highness, today's his lucky day. Come on, Gwendal, I need to change into my ballgown." She declared before heading over to her dressing room.

Yuuri blinked. "His lucky day? Why? What do you mean?" he asked.

Anissina did not answer anymore; she just shut the door of her dressing room.

Yuuri sulked. "Man. I guess it's a surprise." He muttered. Then there was another knock on the door. Yuuri just hoped that the person outside was not Gunter or Stoffel, otherwise, he would have to jump out of the window. "Yeah?" he called out nervously.

It was Conrart.

"Oh, I'm so glad it's you!" Yuuri said in relief with a weak smile on his face.

Conrart stepped inside and carefully closed the door. "It's a surprise to see you here, your majesty," he told him. "I actually came here to see if the two are ready because mother is already summoning them to the ballroom." He explained.

"Anissina's getting dressed now. I think you should get Gwendal's formal clothes so that it would not be a hassle anymore for them to transfer to his room." Yuuri suggested.

Conrart smiled. "I'll do it." He said before stepping out of the room again.

Meanwhile, Yuuri was fiddling with something inside the right pocket of his trousers and he was smirking to himself. Just then, Wolfram entered the room, surprising Yuuri that he pulled out his hand from his pocket. "You startled me!" he remarked.

"So, are they up yet?" Wolfram asked.

"Well… yeah. They are." Yuuri answered.

Wolfram approached him and stared at the bed before turning his gaze to him again. "Where did you hide it?" he asked.

"In my pocket. I just hope I don't lose it." Yuuri replied with a worried look on his face.

"You wimp. If you lose that we're going to get into big trouble!" Wolfram pointed out.

"Well she wouldn't know anyway." Yuuri said.

"Right. But he can easily tell her." Wolfram said.

"My, my, it's too early and you two lovebirds are already fighting?" Anissina remarked as she and Gwendal stepped out of her dressing room, revealing to them her red off-shoulder ballgown with black lace and velvet trimmings.

Yuuri and Wolfram gaped at her as if they had seen the most amazing thing they could ever see—for that day, at least. "WOW!" Yuuri exclaimed, blushing at the sight of Anissina. Even Wolfram did not get the chance to react with a jealous fit because he himself thought that Anissina really looked very beautiful. They just managed to look away from her when they heard Gwendal clearing his throat. Yuuri and Wolfram saw that his left eye was twitching and they just smiled weakly. "I swear, brother, I didn't mean to stare for so long…" the latter stammered weakly.

Conrart arrived again with Gwendal's formal attire but when he saw Anissina, he could not help but stare as well. "Oh my goodness. You're the most beautiful lady that I've ever seen today, Anissina," he remarked in amazement as he approached her and Gwendal to hand his older brother the clothes. Surprisingly, she blushed and giggled but she smacked him on the left shoulder to express her flattery. "Oh, I'll bet you said that to over 15 ladies already for today, Lord Weller!" she said with a tone that sounded very pleased yet a little bit sarcastic. Conrart held the area where she smacked him and just smiled weakly while trying to mind off the slight pain.

"Stop that, Anissina. I have to get dressed." Gwendal said gruffly as he dragged her with him back to her dressing room.

"My, she can really get us into too much trouble if she wishes to." Wolfram muttered to Conrart.

"Relax, Wolfram, she's just trying to make Gwendal jealous." Conrart said calmly.

"How's Gwendal when he's jealous? Does he act like Wolfram over here?" Yuuri asked.

Wolfram elbowed him. "Hey, what did you mean by that? Are you trying to insult me?" he demanded.

"N…no." Yuuri stammered as he moved away from Wolfram while clutching the area of his side where he got elbowed.

Conrart chuckled. "I don't really remember too much but when I was only 20, there was this other boy who tried to impress Anissina by showing off his gadgets which he bought from his father's expedition into other cities. When Gwendal thought that nobody's looking, he pushed that boy to the ground quite hard that the boy injured his own wrists." He explained.

Yuuri's eyes widened upon hearing that anecdote about Gwendal.

Wolfram smiled proudly. "That's nothing compared to what I've seen!" he said before turning to Yuuri. "I was only 15 when this one happened: Conrart was undergoing dancing lessons with Gunter but he didn't have a female partner so Gunter made him dance with Anissina." And he began to laugh just as Conrart's facial expression turned sour.

Yuuri blinked. "Then, what happened?" he asked.

Wolfram looked at Conrart. "He cried when Gwendal threatened him, saying, 'How dare you! Are you trying to steal her away from me?'" he narrated, lowering his voice to a pitch that sounded almost like a growl to them in an effort to imitate his eldest brother's voice. Wolfram laughed at Conrart's misfortune.

"Please, that wasn't funny at all. I was very young back then and I was afraid of him that's why I ended up weeping." Conrart explained with a weak tone.

"Yeah and you ran to mother crying and she was having a meeting with a king from some foreign land!" Wolfram pointed out while laughing.

Conrart had a glum look on his face as he crossed his arms and looked away. "Like what I said, I was very young." He mumbled.

Gwendal and Anissina arrived from the dressing room. "What are you oafs talking about?" he asked gruffly.

Wolfram scowled at his eldest brother. "Who are you calling an oaf?" he demanded haughtily.

"Alright, that is enough. We have to go to the ballroom now." Conrart told the two.

"Uh… guys, do me a favor, can you stand close enough to me? Just to keep Stoffel away. I don't want him butt-kissing again or anything." Yuuri explained.

"Aha. Apparently his highness is also able to tell Stoffel's attitude. Congratulations, your highness." Anissina said with a sweet smile on her face.

"It's very obvious." Yuuri said, shrugging.

"Very well let's go to the ballroom now; I'm sure all the guests are waiting for you, your majesty," Conrart said.

Yuuri turned to Gwendal and Anissina. "You two don't seem to be reluctant anymore to go out in public with those manacles." He pointed out with an amused look on his face.

"Well we can't exactly do anything about it now." Gwendal answered, keeping a straight face as he did so. Anissina, on the other hand, was just quiet.

oOoOo

As expected by the guests, King Yuuri made his grand entrance with his usual entourage that consisted of Wolfram, Conrart, Gwendal and Gunter, but they did not expect to see Anissina with them and standing by Gwendal. They all wondered how long she will be chained to Gwendal and if those manacles were really a ploy by Stoffel so that Gwendal can really get married for his convenience.

The Welcoming Ceremony lasted for almost two hours and a half thanks to the speech cited by Stoffel and the full version of the very long nation anthem for Shin Makoku. Yuuri just sat on his throne with a bored look on his face as Stoffel was making his speech.

"It's not really a speech, he's just rambling…" Yuuri was thinking to himself while fighting the urge to yawn. He just wondered how Wolfram and the rest can endure standing without poker-faced expression, pretending to listen to what Stoffel has to say for the sake of showing respect.

The party officially began by noontime and everyone was doing any of the following things: eating, drinking, dancing or socializing.

"Oh finally I can stand up!" Yuuri said as he carefully got up to stretch his legs.

"I'd like to sit down first; my legs are killing me!" Wolfram said before heading over to the chairs. He met Murata along the way and greeted him.

When Gunter saw Murata he asked where he had been because he was required to stand by Yuuri's side during the welcoming ceremony but he was not around.

"I was just outside. The doors closed before I could even enter. Anyway, I guess it was more fun being outside than being here." Murata answered before turning to Gwendal and Anissina. "I understand you have a query in your hearts and minds?" he asked pleasantly.

The two were surprised at him. How could he possibly know? "Well, he's the Great Sage so it's inevitable…" Anissina thought silently.

"One of you was praying to Shinou. Shinou told me about it. Just so you know, he has allowed the marriage. Actually he already gave his consent several years ago the first time Lord von Voltaire even thought about it." Murata explained.

Gwendal felt his cheeks getting warmer upon Murata's revelation for Anissina, Conrart, Yuuri and Gunter to hear.

"Oh, is that so? Well that's splendid then! Gwendal, who are you marrying?" Gunter asked with a teasing smile on his face while looking at Anissina.

"You've been praying for this all along?" Anissina asked in exasperation, eyeing Gwendal with a frown.

"…Why? Is it wrong to pray to Shinou?" was all he could reason.

Murata chuckled. "Congratulations!" he cheered.

Yuuri clapped his hands before turning to the guests to call their attention. "Everybody! Look here! I have an announcement to make!" he called out.

Everybody turned their attention immediately to the Maou and stared at him in wonder.

Cecilie stepped forward from the crowd and approached the throne. "Your highness, the party's just getting started and you already have an announcement to make?" she asked, amused.

"I'm afraid this can't wait, Lady Celi," Murata pointed out before urging for Yuuri to continue.

Yuuri breathed in. "I'd like to announce…"

"Wait, your majesty," Anissina began, interrupted him. Gwendal felt his heart jump when she did so but he did not say anything.

"Yes, Lady Anissina? What's wrong?" Yuuri asked.

"I think… I need to think things through…" she began.

Cecilie already knew what was coming up and she squealed in delight. "Oh, is this an announcement of Gwendal and Anissina's engagement?" she asked happily.

The words could be compared to abracadabra because Stoffel suddenly arrived out of nowhere. "What? Is that true?" he asked, his face had a very delighted look on it.

Gwendal felt his left eye twitch upon discovering that Stoffel was there. "Mother, can you shoo him away?" he muttered to Cecilie; but she was too preoccupied with the thought that her eldest son is finally going to get married and she began to feel excited about having grandchildren that she was rambling to Murata and Gunter about her utmost happiness. She even began to cry tears of joy.

Anissina could see her father and older brother in the crowd and they were looking at her in wonder. They were beginning to notice the confusion in her eyes.

"Uh-oh. I think she's gonna back-out." Demitri told his father.

Gisela was standing was standing by the chair where Wolfram was seated, holding his drink for him while Greta was seated on his lap. "If she backs out now, she'll end up breaking Gwendal's heart again… and hers too." Wolfram said softly.

"Anissina, I'm already giving you the opportunity to slap my face right now in front of everybody." Gwendal mumbled to her.

"But I'm not…" she said.

Gisela smiled weakly. "Look at her, Wolfram, it's like she's freaked out by the idea of marriage." She pointed out while observing the look on Anissina's face.

Everyone began to whisper among themselves about Anissina, the ultimate feminist and the most influential woman in Shin Makoku. "If she gets married now, all her efforts for women empowerment will go down the drain!" some of them were saying.

"And I thought she's trying to put up a good example…"

Anissina breathed in as she lowered her gaze to the floor. "Lady Anissina," she heard Yuuri speaking to her. She immediately turned to him and when she did so, she was surprised upon seeing him smiling at her. The way he was looking and smiling at her reminded her so much of Suzanna Julia, one of her old friends. Anissina stared wide-eyed at him as he spoke in a reassuring tone, "It's going to be okay. You care so much for Gwendal, right? Besides, I know that even if you get married, you can still serve as a good example for women everywhere, but this time, as a good wife who still knows her rights as a woman. The fight isn't over, Anissina."

Anissina's mouth dropped open but she was not able to speak. She just stared at him in silence as she recalled that the same words were spoken to her by Suzanna Julia several years ago. Her thoughts were interrupted when Stoffel spoke up again, this time, he actually approached her. "Anissina, what's wrong with you? Aren't you friends with my nephew? Don't you want to save your best friend from losing his family name?" he demanded of her.

She frowned at him before deciding to turn away, forgetting that she was still manacled to Gwendal, and started to walk down from the throne's pedestal, but Gwendal kept still, preventing her from moving further. She turned back to him. "Gwendal, I don't want to be here anymore!" she said.

He stepped down with a stern look on his face before raising his right hand to her, causing her to left hand and wrist to go with it since they are still manacled to Gwendal. Everyone just stared in surprise as they watched Gwendal von Voltaire slap Anissina's left cheek with the palm of his right hand.

The whole ballroom became silent as they all stared in shock at the aftermath. Anissina just stood there. She could not believe what just happened. She was supposed to be the one to slap his face to show everyone that even women can do the proposing, but the words of Julia from before just echoed in her head.

Stoffel broke the silence by crying out in joy as he clasped his hands together. "Finally! Now, accept the proposal, Anissina!" he said.

Anissina regained her composure and she angrily turned to Stoffel and eyed him in disgust. "Just so you know, von Spitzweg, I am not marrying your nephew just because he needs to save his family name. I am marrying him for love." She smirked at him. "Well I would've married him a hundred and fifty years go but you just had to ruin the moment." She said rolling her eyes. She turned to Gwendal and smiled at him despite the stinging she could feel on her left cheek. "And I accept your proposal, Gwendal." She said finally.

Gwendal felt the blood draining from his face. "…really?" he asked breathlessly.

"You seem scared now." Conrart pointed out.

Anissina just smiled sweetly at her new fiancée.

Gwendal fainted, taking her with him to the floor.

"Goodness!" Gunter reacted in surprise as he jumped away for a moment.

"Gee… I knew this was bound to happen." Wolfram muttered.

Gisela giggled. "Lord von Voltaire was afraid that she would hurt him or nag him for slapping her face. I guess he's just relieved now that she didn't." she said.

Greta sighed dreamily. "Wow. That's very romantic!" she said, swooning.

"A… a little help here, please?" Anissina called out, reaching for Conrart and Yuuri who immediately came to her aid.

Nikolai von Karbelnikoff began to cry. "Oh… I'm about to lose my baby girl…" he said.

Demitri face-faulted. "They're not even married yet, father, stop crying! You can visit her anytime you want anyway because you're retired!" he pointed out.

Cecilie faced the crowd with an excited look on her face. "Oh, this is really a big celebration so let's all have fun for the rest of the day!!!" she exclaimed happily.

As Conrart was helping Anissina, he noticed that Yuuri was reaching for something from his pocket. To their surprise, Yuuri brought out the key to the manacles.

Anissina gasped. "Your highness!" she exclaimed. She suddenly did not know how to feel—angry, confused or happy.

Yuuri smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, Lady Anissina. Gwendal wanted me to help him. While you were asleep last night, he manacled himself to you so that he can be assured that you wouldn't run away at the thought of marriage!" he explained before finally unlocking the manacles to release them. "Here you go." He said brightly.

Anissina was still in a state of shock and she was at a loss for words.

Gwendal slowly opened his eyes just when Conrart had helped him up. "What the… did I dream of everything that just happened?" Gwendal mumbled.

Conrart smiled at his older brother. "Apparently not." He answered lightheartedly.

Anissina got on her feet and eyed Gwendal in annoyance. "You set me up!" she pointed out.

Gwendal could feel the blood draining from his face again as he turned to Yuuri.

Yuuri smiled weakly. "I told her the truth already; I just couldn't lie to her! Besides, you're engaged now so I don't think you have anything to worry about anymore…" he said.

Anissina just placed her hands on her hips as she took a deep breath before smiling at Gwendal. "Oh well. What else can I do? There's no turning back now." She said before she approached him and pulled him away from Conrart. "Dance with me, Gwendal!" she invited happily.

"What? But…" Gwendal began, feeling embarrassed. He never really thought of himself as a good dancer.

"Very well," she released him. "I'll just dance with Conrart instead." She said, turning to Conrart, who just stood there frozen like a deer that's about to get hit by a car.

Gwendal grunted and he instantly snatched Anissina's arm and dragged her to the dancefloor. "Oh no, you don't." he said, but as they were finally dancing, he was eyeing Conrart suspiciously.

"I advise that you don't look at her anymore for the rest of the day," Gunter whispered to Conrart with a weak smile on his face.

Conrart just smiled weakly. "Yes, I think that's the right thing to do." He said.

Yuuri was watching Gwendal and Anissina dancing with a soft smile on his face. Murata was observing the look on his face and he smiled. "You seem very pleased about something, Shibuya." He pointed out.

Yuuri turned to his friend and smiled. "Yeah. For some reason, I really feel very happy right now." He said, mindlessly clutching the pendant containing the crest of the von Wincott family.

"Oooh. What are these?" asked Rinji von Wincott as he approached the throne and picked up the manacles lying around by Yuuri's foot.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you. Those are magical." Yuuri pointed out.

Rinji blinked. "Really?" the little boy asked in amazement.

"Lady Anissina made those. Aren't her inventions really wonderful?" Murata asked.

The mention of Anissina's name made Rinji smile even more. "Really? Lady Anissina made these? I wanna try…" he turned around and spotted Conrart's left wrist.

"No, don't!" Yuuri reacted in shock, but he was not able to do anything else. Rinji moved too fast. He secured the cuff around Conrart's left wrist, and the other cuff around Gunter's right wrist, stunning the two.

"Oh. You little brat! Anissina didn't really teach you about restraint, did she?" Gunter reacted in disdain while looking at the manacles.

"Your majesty, I do hope you still have the key…" Conrart began nervously as Yuuri began to look for key in all his possible pockets but he could not find it. "Oh no…" Conrart mumbled.

Rinji just laughed. "You're too slow!" he said, showing the key to them before running off with it.

"Oh! Come back here, you…" and Gunter ran after the little boy, dragging a helpless and dumbfounded Conrart with him.

oOoOo

-the end.


End file.
